Remnant's Maelstrom Shinobi
by MothBallz
Summary: "School that teaches kids how to fight and kill? Check. People with crazy powers? Check. Shady group of villains with some unknown goal? That's a check. Well you know what they say; different place, different people, same shit. Wonder if they got ramen here too. Whatever. Let's do this Kurama!" Our favorite blonde Uzumaki comes to Remnant as a storm brews on the horizon.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **so yea...this is gonna be a thing haha. I'm seriously in love with the RWBY series and when I said as much in another story the amount of messages I got from people asking me to do a crossover with Naruto was ridiculous. So here we are a few months later and I decided to give it a shot.

I know I have three fics doing pretty well right now and I know it's been a long while since I've updated them but fret not I am still working on them. The reason it's taking so long is due in part to my depressing amount of schoolwork (95% of which is friggin English) and because I've been trying to set the bar a little higher. As such I'm taking more time to actually work on the fics, revise, and all that good stuff.

Some of my loyal readers may be wondering about my DxD crossover and original Naruto fics...well the Naruto fic kind of just dropped off. I may pick it up again at some point. Not sure what I wanna do with it.

The DxD cross...ugh. I get a headache from just thinking about it. I have zero want to even look at that thing. Let's not even talk about it.

But! On to this story! This fic will feature a strong Naruto (not godlike but still damn strong) in the world of Remnant and the havoc that will follow our favorite blonde haired Maelstrom. As for things like how Naruto got there, why he is the way he is, and all that...well it'll be revealed through the story. I don't plan on doing what I did with my DxD crossover, far from it.

I will however say that he won't be COMPLETELY out of character. Just more...mature.

As is usual with my fics expect foul language, added realism, and all that other crap. Don't like it? Then you can fuck right off.

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor RWBY. They are owned by their respective owners.

Real quick I'd like to give a shout out to SilverFoxSage and their story The Vulpine Huntsman of Vale which is a great read and sparked the drive to do my own crossover. Go check it out!

* * *

><p>The city of Vale. One of the four major cities of Remnant that stood as a symbol of mankind's perseverance and ingenuity. It, along with its sister cities, cast a light of hope into the hearts of people around the world, showing the world that no amount of Grimm or disaster could eliminate the human spirit so long as one light shone through the dark.<p>

As a major capital Vale boasted one of the largest shopping districts as well as numerous smaller settlements that lay on the outskirts of the sprawling city. At the heart of Vale was the prestigious Beacon Academy.

It was here at Beacon that the defenders of Vale were trained to combat the forces of darkness. These defenders, normal men and women, who had chosen to dedicate their lives to keeping Vale and her citizens safe were called Huntsmen and Huntresses. Wielding their own unique weapon alongside their equally unique power known as Semblance these warriors were to be the first and last line of defense against those that would wish to harm the citizens of their city.

They were to be symbols unto themselves; symbols of strength, pride, and hope.

It was here at the entrance to Beacon Academy that we find a tall and well built teen admiring the massive structure that was the academy. The teen surveyed the building with blue eyes so intense that they seemed to be like twin pools of the ocean itself. Three marks that resembled whisker marks marked his tan face on each cheek. Blonde hair as gold as the sun fell in messy spikes around his head, the bangs falling across his forehead, further accentuating his electric blue eyes.

The blonde was garbed in clothing that seemed fitting of a warrior ready to march on to the battle lines. A plain black shirt with some sort of swirl in a burnt orange color on the chest clung to his top half. Over top the shirt was a black jacket with the same swirl on each shoulder. The top part of the shoulder was covered by some form of white armor. The back of the jacket as well as some parts of the front were dotted with the same pieces of white armor.

Covering his bottom half was a pair of plain grey pants. On his left thigh was a black pouch. Laying horizontally attached to his belt was a small and plain looking scroll. Covering his feet was a pair of black leather boots with the ends of his pants tucked into the ankle high footwear.

Standing at a solid six foot with a lithe build, the blonde would have struck an imposing figure if not for the twitching of his eye and the fluffy orange furred fox kit wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"Remind me again why the hell I have to go to school...AGAIN Kurama?" The blonde asked aloud, voice dripping in annoyance.

Some would think the teen crazy for talking to himself however that was far from the case. The fox that lay around his neck stirred and allowed one of its closed eyelids to crack open revealing ruby red eyes. Shaking it's head in a very human show of exasperation a gruff male voice rang through the blonde's head, _"Because it seems to be both the easiest and best way to get a job and possibly some answers. Besides it should be easier since you have done this before. Also don't talk out loud you dumbass, people will think you're nuts."_

A sigh escaped the teen's lips before his head fell in resignation, _"But I hated school then and I doubt this will be any different from the Academy back in Konoha."_

_"That may well be true, but keep in mind that despite the situation not changing YOU have changed Naruto. And for kami's sake please don't act a fool. I think we've suffered one lifetime too many of that," _the voice replied back.

Stretching his limbs the now named Naruto sighed again and folded his arms behind his head, _"Wasn't exactly my decision. Not my fault those teachers were too bigoted to actually teach me properly."_

_"Fair point kit, but you also weren't exactly helping yourself by acting like an idiot either."_

_"Touché Kurama, touché."_

Before the mental conversation between the teen and fox could continue they were both startled by a sudden explosion only a few yards away from them. Both raised an eyebrow as they saw a girl about Naruto's age dressed in all white screaming and hollering at a younger girl in red.

Their eyebrows ascended even higher as a girl in black interfered on behalf of the girl in red. Naruto felt bad for the younger girl seeing the regally dressed girl in white stomp off with the girl in black quietly sauntering off, leaving the girl in red to fall to her knees in sadness.

Feeling sympathetic Naruto made his way over to the red themed girl who was muttering to herself about knees...which was rather odd. Not one too judge though Naruto lowered his hand into the girl's vision, offering to help her up.

The Red Riding Hood look alike turned curious gray eyes up to the owner of the hand and was slightly surprised to see a rather good looking blonde offering her help. She took the offered hand and was a little surprised when the teen pulled her to her feet with only a slight tug.

Naruto had to resist the urge to slap himself when he noted just how attractive the red haired girl was.

_"Seems that you inherited your father's love of red hair, ne?" _Kurama chuckled mentally.

Naruto just childishly glared at the cheeky fox.

Before he could come up with a rebuttal the girl whose hand he was still holding spoke up, "Uh...thanks for that...um..."

Realizing that the girl was asking for his name Naruto let go of her hand and grinned, "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

The girl's face lit up in a smile, "Nice to meet ya! I'm Ruby Rose."

The sound of Kurama's snickering echoed in Naruto's head causing his brow to twitch. Of course the fox would find her name amusing. Though even he had to admit that it was all pretty funny. Red cloak with red highlights? And her name was Ruby Rose? Yeah it seemed like her parents really wanted her to like the color red or liked the story of Little Red Riding Hood a little too much.

On the other hand he wasn't one to talk either. After all he had gone around in a bright orange jumpsuit for a few years and then spent another 3 or so years in a darker version of that same jumpsuit. Even now his love for the color orange was hard to repress, evident by the rather large swirl on his chest.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind along with the sounds of a still laughing Kitsune Naruto offered one of his patented foxy grins, "So I take it this is your first year here at Beacon?"

Ruby nervously chuckled, "That obvious huh?"

"No all the experienced Hunters and Huntresses are blowing themselves up with Dust," Naruto chuckled.

Childishly flailing her arms Ruby replied back, "But it wasn't my fault! I mean well I guess it kind of was, but still it was an accident and now because of that I won't have any friends and this is gonna be horrible and..."

Naruto could only barely resist the urge to laugh at the rambling girl. How she was able to talk so fast was a little mind boggling but he had seen stranger so he let her continue to vent out her frustrations.

A few minutes later a slightly winded Ruby blushed as she kicked at the ground, realizing that she had just spilled her guts to a guy she had met all of five minutes ago. The thought that he would be too weirded out with her to be her friend crossed her mind. Luckily before she could go on another worry induced ramble Naruto's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Better?"

"...little bit," Ruby admitted.

For a few seconds neither said anything, Naruto just standing there still grinning and Ruby still blushing in embarrassment. Then it broke. Laughter overtook the silence and filled the air, the two enjoying the oddness of the situation.

When they had regained their breath and were now just chuckling out the last of their laughs Ruby asked, "So you're a returning student here?"

Naruto flashed her a grin, "Nope!"

A sweat drop trailed down Ruby's head.

"Wait so you're a new student like me?"

"Yup!"

Ruby cried crocodile tears, "I was hoping you would be able to show me around!"

Naruto shrugged before folding his arms behind his head, "Well it can't be that hard to get around here...right?"

* * *

><p>The gathering of incoming students to Beacon all raised an eyebrow together as a girl in red came soaring through the open doors of the hall like she had been shot out of a canon. Lucky for her she landed in the arms of a busty blonde haired teen who grinned at her like the situation was normal.<p>

"Ruby!"

Realizing that she was currently in her sister's arms Ruby wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and cried in joy, "Yang! I'm so glad to see you!"

Before anyone could question why Ruby had come through the door via the air, their attention was drawn back to the entrance of the hall where a blur of yellow raced into the hall before quickly slamming the twin doors shut.

There leaning against the door, panting and out of breath, stood another blonde with a frightened look to him. Even weirder was that a small fox kit was mirroring the blonde, looking equally terrified.

Ruby hopped out of her sister's arms and rushed the panting blonde, clutching to his chest like he was her husband who had just come back from war.

"I thought I'd never see you again Naruto!"

Brows were raised even higher as Naruto wrapped his arms around the much smaller girl.

"Shh it's ok Ruby. That...thing will never hurt us again!"

Ruby looked up with a hopeful look shining in her gray eyes, "You killed it?"

Naruto looked away, "No. I was barely able to get away from it with my life."

Before the soap opera like situation could progress any further Yang shoved her way in between the two before asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Ok what the hell are you two talking about!? And how the heck do you know his guy Ruby!?"

Ruby just grinned and appeared by Naruto's side, "This is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto this is my sister Yang."

Naruto chuckled as he nervously waved at his fellow blonde who was inspecting him like a lioness would an unfamiliar creature. He had enough experience with busty blondes to know not to make them angry. That usually lead to a painful beating.

_'Jeez she's almost as big as Tsunade Baa-chan (Granny Tsunade) and she's like half her age!'_

Before Naruto could question what the girl was eating to grow such a...healthy body Kurama made himself known by hopping his way up to Naruto's shoulders where he wrapped himself around the blonde's neck.

_'Kit, kami must love you or something. I mean you've pretty much spent your whole life living every pervert's dream, surrounded by busty and hot females.'_

Naruto would have normally had a snarky comment to reply back with, but he could find none. The fox was right. His stalker since childhood, Hinata, had blossomed into a beautiful young woman with a pair that could give Tsunade a run for her money. Then there was Tsunade herself who boasted possibly the largest pair in all of the Elemental Nations. Both Anko and Kurenai were equally beautiful and as equally gifted in the chest area. Not to mention Shion the priestess who wanted him to father her children. Of course who could forget the Mizukage (Water Shadow), Mei Terumi, who had no shame in flirting with him whenever a chance arose.

Naruto didn't know whether to cry in frustration or joy. On one hand he had tried his hardest to not fall to the dark side and become a pervert like every male role model in his life, but it seemed Kami had other plans or just enjoyed tempting him.

Resigned to his fate Naruto just stuck out his hand in greeting, "Nice to meet you Yang."

Not even bothering to reply to the greeting the blonde did a total 180 and was instantly invading his personal space bubble and gushing over the cuteness of Kurama. The fox himself was enjoying the attention, only serving to boost his already massive ego.

"Um...I'd like it if you didn't do that. Stupid fox already has a big enough ego."

"How could such a cute little thing have an ego?" Yang cooed in a baby like voice while cradling Kurama in her arms.

The fox was more than enjoying the situation he had found himself in, _'Kit...I now understand why Jiraiya was a pervert.'_

Naruto could only sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration, though on the other hand looking at his fellow blonde he really couldn't blame the fox. Even he had to admit that the term "blonde bombshell" fit Yang almost to the letter and if the metallic bands on her wrist and the smell of gunpowder were anything to go by, the bombshell part may just be literal.

With the excitement over, the hall descended back into the chatter of friends and the group was left to their own devices without having to worry about having the whole freshman class' eyes on them. Of course both Yang and Naruto were the type of people who could care less what other people thought of them and Ruby wasn't focusing on the background people enough to care.

As the group of three (plus one fox) chatted and got to know each other, Yang found herself actually enjoying the company of her fellow blonde. Far too often would guys chase after her and her sister and spend that time simply ogling them like creeps. She knew her outfit didn't exactly help, but not only was it easy to move in it also gave her an advantage over those perverts who would stare at her chest in the middle of a battle.

Naruto was different and instead looked her straight in the eyes which, with his piercing blue eyes, unnerved her a little bit. It was like he could pierce straight through her without even trying. What made her a little more on edge was how comfortable she was with the guy.

Not even a few minutes with the blonde and she was joking with and teasing him, which she found incredibly fun to do because of how he reacted. Seeing the somewhat cocky blonde turn into a blushing stuttering mess was just hilarious. Sure she was known for teasing people, but to be this comfortable with someone so fast? It made her a little worried. You didn't see and do the things she had by trusting everyone you met.

Before their little get together could continue a certain princess in white stomped her way to them and made her presence known by pointing her finger at Ruby whilst yelling, "You!"

Ruby reflexively jumped into her sister's arms and cried, "Oh god! She's back!"

The girl in white merely continued on her rant, "You're lucky you didn't blow us right off the cliff!"

Yang looked at her sister who was still in her arms in surprise, "Oh god you really did explode."

"I told you it was an accident!" Ruby exclaimed in an attempt to defend herself.

"To be fair you were kinda shaking those vials of Dust around, so you are also to blame," Naruto butted in.

Ruby gave Naruto a grateful smile, while the princess gave him a dirty look he was all too familiar with.

_'Hey Kurama you think she's part Uchiha or something? I mean only an Uchiha can sneer like that.'_

_'You got a good point there kit. But Uchiha's are also known for the love of black sooo,' _Kurama said as he pointed out Weiss choice in clothing color.

"And just who the heck are you?"

Taking a page out of one his teacher's books Naruto gave the girl a lazy look and drawled out, "I'm sorry did you say something princess?"

While the girl was turning red from anger and not so silently fuming, both Yang and Ruby were just looking at the interaction between the two with barely surprised giggles.

"I said who the heck are you!?" The girl all but screamed.

Naruto just grinned lazily and somehow managed to smile with his eyes, "Isn't it polite to give your name before asking someone else's?"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Yang was on the floor rolling in laughter while Ruby was not fairing much better, hands on her knees as her shoulders shook from laughing. Even those within hearing distance of the group were either laughing or grinning when they saw how well the white themed girl seemed to be imitating a tomato.

_'Kit...you're evil...and I'm so proud!'_

Barely stopping herself from strangling the infuriating blonde in front of her she seethed out, "My name is Weiss Schnee."

Around them some jaws dropped hearing the name Schnee. Evidently Naruto knew the name as well because his own jaw dropped, "As in the Schnee Dust company!?"

The now named Weiss crossed her arms and gained back her arrogance, "That's right my father is the owner of the largest Dust company in all of Vale."

Naruto did a complete 180 and went back to his uncaring posture from before, "Wow then you really should've know better than to be shaking vials of Dust like a rattle."

Almost instantly the laughter came back even stronger than before as Yang gasped in an attempt to get some much need air into her lungs, Ruby equally out of breath. Weiss on the other hand let loose a scream of frustration and threw her arms in the air.

"UGH! YOU ARE SO INFURIATING!"

As Weiss stamped away in anger Naruto just chuckled as Yang leaned on him, still trying to regain her breath, "Foxy, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

As the crowd began to quiet down a man dressed in an all green suit with silver hair and glasses walked his way before the microphone, aided by a metallic walking cane of some sort. This was the head of Beacon Academy, Ozpin.

"I will...keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people...but I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Without a word more Ozpin began to walk away, not even sparing a glance at the crowd of his newest students.

Equal amounts of shock, anger, and denial ran through the teens in the crowd after Ozpin's rather bleak speech. Yang huffed in anger at the man's words, while Ruby looked down in contemplation. Naruto merely stood there with his arms crossed.

_'Great, another Kakashi. Wonder if he has some porn stashed away like the scarecrow too,' _Naruto thought to himself.

A blonde haired woman wearing glasses and a cape of some sort strode up the microphone to take Ozpin's place, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

* * *

><p>Sitting atop the windowsill with one leg dangling outside, Naruto allowed the crisp night air to brush against his face, his blonde locks rustling in the wind while his cerulean orbs stared at the moon that now hung in the starry night sky.<p>

Going over today's events he had to chuckle at the parallels in this new life of his. Without even opening one of his eyes Kurama spoke through their mental connection, _'Parallels there may be, but remember kit, there will also be many differences. You can not allow your past to haunt you any longer, lest you become like that one eyed sensei of yours.'_

Naruto only offered a bittersweet smile as he absentmindedly allowed his fingers to softly stroke Kurama's fur. Looking back now it was funny how much things had changed. Almost a year or so ago and the fox that was curled up in his lap had wanted nothing more than to tear him to bloody bits and break out of the seal that kept him in Naruto. Now? Well Naruto had no idea how he would've survived this long without Kurama's help.

Than there was Naruto himself. Looking back he could've slapped himself. Admittedly he really hadn't changed all that much. He was still pretty hyper and knuckleheaded, but the difference now was that he had balanced out. Thanks to Kurama's help and his own determination he had been able to improve in almost every area by leaps and bounds.

Naruto was knocked out of his little reverie when he felt the presence of Ruby next to him, "Penny for your thoughts?"

The blonde turned and took in Ruby's pajamas with a smile. While in her normal clothes the girl looked ready to go into battle, or a Halloween party, however in her pink pajama bottoms and black tank top, Ruby actually looked her age.

Ruby also took in Naruto's own sleep wear with a minor blush. The white tank top with some sort of leaf like symbol that hung off his form allowed his well muscled arms to be seen quite easily. Likewise the navy blue gym shorts with that red swirl of his did a good job of showing off his equally well-toned legs.

Ruby had to blush as, with the moon in the background and blonde hair swaying gently in the breeze, Naruto looked quite attractive.

"Just thinking about home."

"Where are you from?" Ruby asked curiously. She admittedly didn't know much about her new blonde friend, which was something she wanted to remedy.

Naruto just turned his gaze back to the moon. He had spent enough time here on Remnant to have come up with a back story which was as close to the truth as he could get without having to tell everyone the compete truth.

"It was a village out in the middle of nowhere. It was my people's attempt at starting up another city like Vale. It had actually been around for awhile and thanks to the forests that surrounded it, it was named Konohagakure no Sato."

Before Ruby could question exactly what the name meant and what language it was in, a slightly surprised yet subdued voice made its way into their conversation.

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Both Naruto and Ruby turned their eyes to see the black haired girl who had helped out Ruby earlier in the day making her way to them, book in hand.

Naruto raised his brow and nodded, surprised that someone actually knew the language, "Yea that's spot on actually. I'm surprised someone even knows that language still."

The raven haired teen offered her brow raise, "Same can be said for you. For all intents and purposes it's a dead language."

Naruto just smiled, "My village actually preferred it, made names and stuff sound a lot cooler. By the way I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Blake. And your name...your parents really liked ramen huh?"

Naruto childishly pouted, "Damnit that's not what my name means!"

Ruby giggled at Naruto's pout before asking, "So what does it really mean then?"

The blonde just puffed out his chest and proudly declared, "Maelstrom."

Blake chose to interject, "So your full name means 'Maelstrom Spiral' then?"

Naruto just grinned cockily, "You got it!"

Yang suddenly appeared behind Naruto, scaring him enough to almost make him lose his balance and fall out the window. Thankfully she had also chosen to grab his whiskered cheeks and began tugging at them, "I don't know, I think I'll just stick with calling you Foxy."

With Yang still painfully tugging at his cheeks, Naruto began to cry dramatically, "Ruby help! Get your crazy sister off me!"

"Who you calling crazy Mr!?" Yang yelled as she began to tug at Naruto's cheeks even harder, laughing maniacally all the while.

Ruby began to laugh as she watched her sister torture their new friend, while even the normally cool Blake cracked a grin as she watched the two blondes interact.

"SAY IT! SAY UNCLE!"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

"YOU WANNA BET FOXY!?"

"OW OW OW OW! DAMNIT YANG THAT HURTS!"

"SAY IT!"

"NEVER!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

Silence.

Ruby stared at the poor bastard who had told both Naruto and Yang to shut up with wide eyes. This was not gonna end well...for the guy at least. Quietly she wondered what kind of flowers he liked.

Both Naruto and Yang slowly turned their heads to face the brave (read: foolish) soul who would dare interrupt them.

For a moment both parties stared directly at each other, the nameless and random teen defiantly glaring straight back at the pair of blondes. However when Yang slowly stepped off of Naruto's back and cracked her knuckles, he began to sweat. When Naruto began to crack his neck, the glare dropped off his face.

With fearful eyes he watched as the blonde duo stalked their way over to the his place on the floor, people quickly clearing the way so as not to get in between the cold fury of Naruto and Yang and their prey.

That night screams of pain echoed throughout the school grounds for ten minutes straight before all was quiet.

* * *

><p>"AH! Now that was a good night's sleep!" Yang declared as she stretched, drawing the eyes of every teen male in the room.<p>

Naruto grinned as he stretched as well, "Couldn't agree more Yang! Slept like a log."

Ruby could only sweat drop upon seeing the devious grin the two shared. Maybe introducing them to each other was a bad idea.

Naruto collected his stuff before walking out of the hall, Yang, Ruby, and surprisingly Blake not too far behind.

As the group made their way to the locker rooms where their battle clothes and weapons were Naruto decided spark up a conversation, not one for silences, "So you guys ready for whatever our initiation is today?"

Ruby was bouncing around like a rabbit out of excitement in response, "Oh my gosh! Today's the day! We're gonna become Hunters and Huntresses! THIS IS SO EXCITING!"

Naruto chuckled at the girl's exuberance while Yang shook her head at her sister's hyperactiveness, "You bet your butt we are Foxy!" Winking at her fellow blonde she continued, "Just don't get left behind ok?"

Naruto laughed as petted a still sleeping Kurama, "Psh. Speak for yourself. I got this test in the bag, -ttebayo!"

Blake raised an eyebrow at the verbal tic before turning curious eyes at the fox kit wrapped around Naruto's neck. She had seen the fox before, but seeing as it had spent most of the time sleeping she had passed it off as nothing of importance. Now however, with them no doubt heading into combat, she raised a question, "Naruto, what about your pet? Is it a good idea to bring it along?"

The fox seemed to have heard her and in response opened its eyes before glaring at her and growling. While Kurama usually appeared to be sleeping he was always keeping his senses out, making sure to keep him and Naruto aware of anything and everything around them. As such he had heard Blake's question and was non too happy at being called a pet.

_'She better watch it! I am no pet! I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine Tailed Fox)! Strongest of the Bijuu (Tailed Beasts) and I could easily crush her underneath my paw!'_

Blake was mildly surprised to see twin crimson orbs bore into her own amber eyes, clearly expressing just how angry the fox was.

The blue eyed teen turned to face Blake, "Uh I'd apologize. Kurama here doesn't like to be called a pet."

Blake raised an eyebrow wondering just what kind of fox this Kurama was. She had never seen a fox or any animal with such unique red eyes, or even fur of that color. The fox also seemed to be extremely intelligent, having perfectly understood what she had said.

"Uh...sorry Kurama?"

The small fox looked to have actually scoffed, further surprising Blake and the others, before resuming his position as Naruto's scarf.

_'Stupid cats. Think they're so amazing,'_ Kurama huffed.

Naruto sweat dropped at his friend's comment, "Well that's probably as good as you're gonna get. He's pretty stubborn when he wants to be."

Blake decided to voice her question as she kept looking at Kurama in curiosity, "What kind of fox is he? He's pretty smart and doesn't look like any fox I've seen."

Naruto shrugged, "He was sort of an experiment my village was doing. They wanted to see how Aura affected animals and so as a small kit he was injected with doses of mine, which is why we're so close. That's also why I know he can take care of himself, he has his own Semblance."

Kurama mentally grinned, _'My, my kit that was a pretty good lie. Seems like you really are becoming a true shinobi.'_

Naruto just shrugged. Just because he kind of trusted Ruby, Yang, and Blake didn't mean he was gonna just spill his whole life story to them. He had been stabbed far too many times in the back to be that trusting anymore. Besides it wasn't like they'd believe him if he told them that Kurama was actually just a physical manifestation of energy that had been sealed inside of him by his parents and Death when he was only a few minutes old. Or that Kurama was actually several stories tall and so powerful that with just a flick of his tail he could crumble mountains.

Yeah he'd be locked up in the loony boon faster than his father's Hiraishin no jutsu (Flying Thunder God technique).

Both Yang and Ruby shrugged at Naruto's explanation, their family had a dog who also acted as a partner on some missions so Naruto having a fox who could do the same wasn't that weird to them.

As the group of four plus one fox finally reached the locker room they separated to head to their lockers and get changed. Naruto had the foresight to get dressed away from the girls, knowing what happened to guys who tried to peek on women who knew how to fight and had sharp pointy things on hand.

Finally dressed in his clothing and making sure that his punches were full of kunai and that he had his main weapon sealed into the scroll attached to his belt, Naruto began to make his way out of the locker rooms. On the way out he managed to catch the tail end of Weiss asking someone to be her partner for the exam.

Wondering who was apparently so good that the princess was asking them to be her partner Naruto peeked over and was shocked.

Standing there with a small smile on her beautifully unmarried face was a girl so beautiful he was his jaw had just hit the ground.

Noticing the dumb look on his container's face Kurama turned to look at the girl only to have his eyes but out, _'Kit, I know I'm always teasing you, but...damn! Now I see why your dad liked red-head so much!' _

And Kurama wasn't wrong. With hair as red as blood tied into a ponytail and garbed in bronze looking armor and a battle skirt with boots, the girl looked as dangerous as she was beautiful. Naruto was able to catch what Weiss said about the girl. Apparently she was so good that she was the undefeated champ of some tournament for three years and had even earned the moniker of "The Invincible Girl".

_'It's always the red heads,'_ Naruto lamented to himself.

Unfortunately for him Naruto knew very well just how he was around such women. Confident, strong, yet gentle and understanding. And the red hair? Yeah he'd be lucky if he could throw a kunai straight with her around. He really had inherited his father's love of red-heads.

Hoping that Kami was on his side and that he wouldn't have to be around her for too long for the sake of his dignity, Naruto made his way out to join Ruby and Yang.

Had he looked back once more he would have seen the red head ignore Weiss in favor of turning to look at his retreating form, _'Hmm it's that blonde guy. His name was Naruto I think. He's a little odd.' _Smiling to herself she recalled his entrance at the freshman speech, _'And funny too.'_

* * *

><p>The current gathering of students consisting of a grinning Naruto, a hyperactive Ruby, a cocky Yang, calm Blake, haughty Weiss, an odd girl with short orange hair bugging a teen with long raven black hair, a serene red head, and both Ozpin and his assistant Glynda, stood at the edge of cliff, below which stretched miles upon miles of wild untamed forest.<p>

Taking note that everyone who needed to be there was there, Ozpin began after taking a sip from his coffee cup, "For years you have trained to be warriors and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda decided to step in and with some sort of tablet in hand continued for Ozpin, "Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the mention of teammates.

_'Jeez can this get anymore like Konoha?'_

Though he did have to wonder why Ruby looked so down while Yang was giving her an "I told you so" look.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," Ozpin lectured.

Ruby turned to give Naruto a hopeful look, silently asking him if he would be her partner. Naruto guessed that Yang was attempting to get her little sister to meet new people, but he could see that Ruby would be more than comfortable only having a small handful of people she could trust, a sentiment he shared with her. As such he just gave her a smile and shrugged, silently agreeing with her.

As if to shatter any of Ruby's hopes at being paired with someone she knew Ozpin continued with a small amount of pleasure in his voice, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Naruto had to withhold a laugh as he saw Ruby's world begin crumbling down around her. Off to the side the girl with orange hair happily turned to her friend, "See! I told you!"

Not wanting to be interrupted any further Ozpin continued his little speech, "After you've partnered up head to the north end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."

At hearing that a sudden grim look came across everyone's face. Our favorite blonde protagonist meanwhile had to resist the urge to sweat drop, _'Ok this is getting freaky now. I mean really? Another silver haired teacher preaching the need to walk into a test with the intent to kill.'_

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene," taking a sip of coffee Ozpin paused in his speech, allowing the weight of his words to really sink in. After a few seconds he continued, "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing and be graded appropriately. Any questions?"

The group nodded in the negative, everyone already clear on their instructions, simple as they were. Find a partner, get through the forest, grab a relic, and make it back to cliff, hopefully in one piece.

Ozpin nodded, seemingly satisfied with the determination each of his prospective students was showing in the face of the obstacle before them.

"Good. Now, take your positions."

Already having seen the silver launch pads beneath their feet, each student prepared themselves. The first to be launched into the air was the Schnee heiress who merely allowed herself to fly through the air with a bland look.

One by one each of the students was sent rocketing into the air by the pads beneath them. Soon only Yang, Ruby, and Naruto remained. Before Yang was launched into the air she winked at Naruto before pulling out a pair of sunglasses from...somewhere and with a whoop of joy she too was sent flying.

Ruby turned and offered a smirk at Naruto before she joined her sister and the others in the air. As the last one left to be launched Naruto looked at both Ozpin and Glynda before offering them a cocky smirk as he rotated his neck, cracking it in the process. He bowed to the two and was launched off into the sky like a bullet.

"YAHOO!"

Ozpin turned and regarded his long time friend and associate with a raised brow, "He was an...odd one."

Glynda frowned, clearly unhappy with how nonchalant Naruto had seemed, almost like life or death situations were nothing new to him. The other students had looked just as excited to prove themselves, but it was clear they were also weary of the danger that called the forest home.

The blonde did not. He had a look in his eye that she had only seen in veteran Hunters and Huntresses, the look of someone who had spilt blood and fought in battles their life on the line far too many times. It did not sit well with the strict woman and set her on edge.

Wondering just who the blonde was she instantly pulled up the video feed of him on her tablet and pulled up his record next to it.

* * *

><p>Naruto laughed to himself as he saw several of the others already begin to descend back towards terra firma. However Naruto wasn't an adept user of Fuuton (Wind Release) for nothing. Calling forth only a small portion of his massive chakra reserves he allowed it to coat his form, creating a streamlined shield of wispy light green chakra. Now far more aerodynamic he pushed only a smaller portion into his feet, propelling him further and faster than the others.<p>

Soon he was naught but a screaming blonde bullet tearing through the air like a knife through wet paper. As he passed the others who had been launched before him he could hear the gasps of shock and one girl in red as she attempted to copy him by using the recoil from her weapon only to slice through a bird in the process.

"BIRDY NO!"

Soon the others began to follow suit, using either their weapons or their Semblance to propel themselves even further into the Emerald Forest. However humans were not meant to fly and eventually gravity began to show itself, bringing them all back down to the earth.

Seeing that he was slowly making his way into the trees and wanting to avoid any injuries or broken limbs he reached into the pouch on his thigh and pulled out two kunai knives. Holding the ninja knives in a reverse grip he allowed his bubble of Wind Natured Chakra to pop, letting the winds slam into him, greatly slowing him down. With his speed slowed down the blonde was able to weave through several of the trees, each time he did so bringing down his speed even more. Eventually Naruto had slowed to a decent enough speed to be able to stab his kunai into a large tree trunk. Curving his legs inwards he swung his body around the tree, carving out a spiral into the trunk as he made his way to the forest floor.

When he was close enough to the ground that he wouldn't break a bone from a fall, he let go of the blades and performed a flip whilst tucking into a ball. As Naruto came even closer to the ground he unfurled himself and like a gymnast landed perfectly on his feet before bowing to the imaginary crowd.

_'I'll give it a 9 out of 10,'_ Kurama snickered.

Naruto blew a raspberry at his fox friend, insulted that he didn't get a perfect score.

The sound of the bushes rustling put him on high alert. Thinking that he was already going to be attacked by something that wanted him as dinner, he pulled out another kunai knife and with perfect aim tossed it into the bush with the precision and speed that came with his years of experience using the knives.

He was surprised though when, instead of the squelching sound of metal piercing flesh, he heard the metallic ring of steel meeting steel. As the victim of Naruto's paranoid attack emerged from the brush all he could do was face palm while Kurama was near gasping from laughter.

_'HAHAHAHA! Kami really loves to see you squirm kit!' _

Out from the brush emerged a smiling red haired beauty, round bronze shield and spear in hand.

Looking skyward Naruto began to curse out Kami, convinced she had either abandoned him or just enjoyed torturing him.

Resigned to his fate he offered a smile and hand, "Naruto Uzumaki."

The red head returned the smile before attaching her shield to her back and shaking Naruto's offered hand, "Pyrrha Nikos."

Naruto nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, an old nervous habit of his, "Guess that makes us partners huh? By the way sorry for almost...ya know stabbing you with one of my kunai."

Pyrrha simply offered a kind smile and laughed, "We are indeed and no harm done!" She looked at Naruto who seemed to be unarmed, outside of the the aforementioned kunai, "Do you not have your own weapon?"

Naruto grabbed the scroll that hung from his belt and twirled it on a finger, "I do, but I usually don't use it unless I need to. I can usually handle most opponents just using my...uh...Semblance and kunai."

As he stumbled on his words in the middle of the sentence he began to mentally curse himself, _'Always the damn red heads!'_

Luckily Pyhrra didn't show any signs of her being suspicious or even having caught him falling over his words and nodded her head, "So what is your Semblance then?"

Naruto just winked at the red head, some of his usual bravado making its way back to him, "That my partner is a secret. Though hopefully I won't have to use it anytime soon."

As he said that the sounds of twigs snapping caught both teens' attention and again Naruto began to curse Kami all over again.

Lumbering out of the trees was, unfortunately, not another of the people taking the initiation, but was instead the massive form of bear like beast. Instead of the usual brown fur though, this monster was covered in pitch black fur with a bone white mask covering its face while various pieces of what looked to be bone protruded out from random areas on its towering form.

This was a Creature of Grimm, an Ursa. Judging by its near 8 foot stature and plated form this was an older and more experienced Ursai, an Ursa Major to be exact.

As Naruto drew a pair of kunai and Pyrhha pulled her shield off her back, Naruto could only mutter a single sentence, "Well fuck you too then Kami."

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>and done! Hate to leave you guys on a cliffhanger, but I figure that this is a good spot to stop.

For those who are wondering why Jaune isn't there...only room enough for one blonde dude, also Jaune irritates me greatly.

Now here's a couple things. As of right now, Naruto's weapon is still in thought process. I have a vague idea of what I want it to be and do. Still suggestions won't be turned down and will be taken into account.

An another note, the pairing. I don't know what I'm gonna do about the pairing, if I'm gonna make it just one pairing (Naruto and Pyhhra, or Naruto and Blake...maybe others) or the ever loved harem. If harem I'll probably go with the girls listed above, so team RWBY and Pyhrra. Again same with Naruto's weapon. Suggestions will not be turned down, but will be taken into consideration. I may do what I usually do and just stick a poll up on my profile for you guys to vote on. I'll go another chapter or 2 before deciding on what to do.

With that said don't flood the reviews or my pm inbox with just suggestions for the pairing. I appreciate the help in review numbers but I much more appreciate actual input on the story, even if it's a simple "Good job!" Or "liking the story so far!"

Flames will be copy and pasted into chats and texts to give me and my friends something to laugh at. You flame, just know that me and my friends will be laughing derisively at you.

On the other hand actual honest to goodness critiques are very much so welcome. Think there's something wrong with the story or my writing? Review or pm me with actual reasons, not just "You suck", you will be treated like a flamer and laughed at.

Also I know that here is still quite a lot that we don't know about Remnant and even the characters themselves. In most cases I'll leave it ambiguous enough so that I can still "fix" any mistakes or anything. However for things like the origin of Grimm I will be personally creating my own sort of mythos. Actually my theory on what Grimm are is probably gonna be in the next chapter so you'll get a taste of what I mean.

I would usually bug my friend Phoenix for some art, but she's rather busy so if anyone wants to do art or knows someone who's good at it, hit me up with a pm.

Go check out my profile for some cool links to stuff, leave a review, go read my other stories if you like, and all that other good stuff.

Until next chapter!

PEACE

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUT


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I gotta admit I'm pretty happy with the response to this fic! Almost 70 reviews on one chapter alone? That's pretty awesome. Especially since most of them were rather lengthy and detailed.

For some of the things that had been up in the air last chapter: You will see Naruto's weapon in action this chapter. It was interesting to fool around with and I had some great ideas thrown my way. In the end I went with what I went with haha.

Also fret not! I will NOT be following every episode of canon to the letter. Obviously I will for the first few chapters to get everything set up, but there will be plenty of deviations from canon and such.

Honestly the hardest part of this chapter was trying to come up with a team name that fit into the theme and pattern of the others. After like a half or or so on wiki and rearranging their letters, it came down to two and I had my friend help me choose which one was better, so thanks to her.

Some are curious to know whether this is a pre or post Fourth Shinobi World War Naruto and I'll say...it's a secret, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Seriously though, the whole situation with Naruto and what lead to him being in Remnant and all of that will be revealed bit by bit. There will be hints thrown in here and there, but nothing concrete until I decide its a good time for it to come out.

I think there was like 2 or 3 who asked what was up with Naruto and Ruby's moment there and again that's something that will be revealed later. Nothing serious it'll just be fuel for comedy.

Regarding the Grimm:...read the story. Really a lot of the questions being asked were due to you all being impatient fucks...and that's ok haha! Lord knows I'm highly impatient myself.

Without blabbering your ears off anymore, FORWARD WE MARCH TO THE STORY!

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><p>The Creatures of Grimm, monstrous and beastly creatures whose sole reason for existence was to bring death to mankind. They did not hunger for meat, vegetation, or any other "normal" food source. In fact, when observed, it seemed like they did not need to eat or drink to survive like any other living creature on Remnant. However this did not mean that they lacked a desire to eat.<p>

The one thing these creatures seemed to crave, to hunger for, was human flesh and blood.

No one on Remnant had any one hundred percent proven idea as to what Grimm were or even how they came to exist. Scientists were not able to properly observe Grimm due to how hard it was to keep even a young one in captivity. What made it even more difficult to study the Grimm was that, upon death, their bodies would fade from existence, leaving not even a hair to be examined.

The only concrete facts the people of Remnant knew regarding Grimm were thus: Grimm were drawn to dark emotions such as jealousy, hatred, and greed. The monsters had a fondness for human flesh and they were capable of learning from experience.

Naruto could add something else to that list though. His godfather and mentor, Jiraiya, had been a powerful man, known across the Elemental Countries for his prowess in the art of Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu (Sealing Arts). Jiraiya and his two teammates had earned themselves fame and infamy in their youth, becoming known as the Densetsu no Sannin (Legendary Three Ninja).

Out of the various skills Jiraiya had passed down to his godson, chief among them was the skill that had earned the now deceased shinobi the title of Gama Sennin (Toad Sage). The skill was legendary even among Naruto's people and was known as Senjutsu (Sage Technique). The technique allowed the user to gather the very energy of Nature herself and blend it into their body, bolstering both their physical and mental prowess to otherwise unachievable heights.

As such the practitioners of Senjutsu were seen as Sages and even when they were not actively using Nature Chakra, even novice Sages were keenly aware of it and those who could use it. As such Naruto was thoroughly shocked when he noticed that the Creatures of Grimm were comprised almost entirely of Nature Chakra.

It answered a lot of the questions the people of Remnant had and explained a lot more as well. The reason the body of a Grimm faded upon death was because the Nature Chakra it was made up of was returning back to the planet or moving into the nearby plant and animal life. This was also the reason they showed such apathy to other animals and why they had such a hunger for humans.

Suffice it to say that mankind had somehow screwed up so badly in the past that Mother Nature had felt the need to fight back by giving birth to these monsters.

Being a Sage and, by proxy, being so in tune with the planet Naruto always felt a little bad when he had to kill Grimm. Sure they seemed mindless and all, but really they were just Nature's anger at what humans had done to her planet.

His only solace was knowing that, by killing Grimm, the plant life around them would grow all the more resilient and lively.

So it was with a mental sigh that Naruto lodged a kunai knife into the jugular of the rather large Ursai that had attempted to have him and Pyrrha for dinner. In all honesty the fight had been terribly one sided. He was a well trained shinobi with his fair share of experience and it seemed that Pyrrha's title of "The Invincible Girl" was well earned. Combined, the two had taken the large bear like Grimm down in record time.

Naruto was also quite surprised to get a peek at Pyrrha's battle prowess. She seemed to flow like water, changing between attacking and defending with ease while still managing to dish out her fair share of blows. That fluidity also translated seamlessly into how she handled her weapon. The ease with which she transitioned her weapon from javelin, to sword, to rifle, and back again was only achievable through years of practice and dedication, though inborn talent also seemed to play a part.

Stretching a bit Naruto shared a smile with Pyrrha before gesturing in the direction they had originally been sent, "Shall we?"

The redhead nodded, "Sure. Hopefully we won't run into too much opposition though."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The less he had to reveal in combat the better. He did not need people asking questions and if what Ozpin said about the teachers monitoring their progress was true, he should be all the more cautious. Passing off some of his ninjutsu as his Semblance with the other teens was easy enough. Getting someone like Ozpin to believe it? That would be a much harder task.

As he and his new partner made their way through the Emerald Forest Pyrrha was the one to strike up a conversation, "I don't remember seeing you at Sanctum, so did you go to Signal?"

"Actually Beacon would be my first official school I'm attending. We had an Academy back in my old village that trained us as well, but it wasn't reputable enough to count so I had to take the battle exam to get into Beacon," Naruto replied.

Pyrrha smiled at the chance to get to know her partner a little more, "Where are you from?"

"It was outside of the kingdoms and was built decades ago by my village's first leader, a man named Hashirama Senju. Because of all the trees that surrounded our village and acted as a natural defense it was called Konohagakure no Sato or the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

The green eyed Huntress in training listened attentively as Naruto spoke with an obvious fondness of his home. Yet still she noticed the bittersweet look in his eyes, almost as if his home held as many bad memories as it did good ones.

"It sounds like you really loved your village," Pyrrha said with a smile.

Naruto nodded his head and let a sad chuckle escape his lips, "It's funny really. When I was younger I used to run around screaming that I was going to become my village's leader someday."

The armor clad redhead giggled at the mental picture of a short blond kid going around yelling that he was the greatest.

"That's still possible. After you graduate from Beacon you can still go back home and become your village's leader right?" Pyrrha offered.

Naruto shook his head, "Sadly that's no longer a possibility. Bout a year or so ago Konoha was attacked by...a horde of Grimm. We tried our best to fight back, but in the end there were too many and we were being overrun. The elders knew this and so they made a call to have anyone under 15 flee the village so they could live. I tried to stay and fight but my old sensei wouldn't let me and, using his Semblance, had me transported far away," Naruto paused to clear the lump in his throat before continuing, "by the time I managed to make my way back to the village it was too late. Konoha was burning and there was no one left alive."

As Naruto had begun his little tale the two had gradually slowed down until eventually, as his story ended, they had come to a full stop. As Naruto held back the very real tears that threatened to fall, Kurama tightened his hold on his container, offering only his presence as a comfort knowing full well that despite what Naruto had said being a partial lie, a chunk of it was also very much so true.

Pyrrha herself was holding back tears. For someone, anyone, to go through that was heart wrenching. Losing your home, your family, your friends, your people all in a single day? It was something she wouldn't wish on anybody. The worst part was then having to watch, helplessly, as it all went up in flames.

While Naruto attempted to recompose himself he was wondering just what in the hell had made him tell Pyrrha all of that. Granted it wasn't the whole truth, it was still close enough to stir up the memories of what had really happened to leave him here on Remnant. Why had he felt comfortable enough with Pyrrha to tell her that? With him sharing this story with her, Pyrrha now knew more about Naruto than anyone else on Remnant.

And oddly enough...he was ok with that. It felt good to get that off his chest. Given he had spent quite a length of time talking about it with Kurama, but that was somehow different. Telling Pyrrha even a fraction of the truth lifted a weight off the blond's shoulders and Kurama seemed to be ok with Naruto's actions, which was a sure sign that Pyrrha was a good person, given that the Kitsune had a general dislike for all of mankind with only a small handful of exceptions.

Feeling Pyrrha's gentle hand on his shoulder he turned and offered the redhead a true smile, "Sorry about dumping all of that on you. Kinda all just came out at once."

Pyrrha just shook her head with her own genuine smile, "It's fine. I can't really blame you as that must have been a difficult part of your life. But now that we're partners know that I'm here for you whenever you need it."

Nodding at each other the two continued on their way through the Emerald Forest, the blond feeling lighter in a manner of speaking while the redhead felt happy knowing that her partner trusted her enough to reveal such an intimate part of his past.

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><p>Miles away atop the cliff that the teens had been launched from, a very irritated Glynda Goodwitch poured over the mysterious blond's records, at least what they had on him which was all but nonexistent. Before taking the battle exam to gain entrance to Beacon they had nothing. For all intents and purposes the blond may just have dropped out of the sky, or simply come into existence and they would know no better. The cheerful blond was an enigma and that aggravated Glynda to no end.<p>

Glynda was a woman who prided herself on being able to pick up on even the smallest of hints that allowed her to judge anyone rather accurately. She was equally proud to call herself intelligent and yet this blond teen was pushing the limits of that.

He jumped so erratically between being a normal teen boy, a seemingly veteran warrior, and a man haunted by his past mistakes so quickly that it was hard to asses just who he really was. It both confounded her and caused her no minor amount of irritation.

Ozpin meanwhile stood there as an exact counterpart to the frustrated blonde woman, calmly sipping his coffee as he gazed out at the vast stretch of forest below. There was no denying it. Naruto Uzumaki was an enigma. However Ozpin knew that Naruto was also aware of this and there would be no strides made in unraveling said enigma without the blond's permission.

For now all anyone could do was wait. In time the blond would grow to trust some and only then would they be able to find the answers to the many questions that surrounded one Naruto Uzumaki.

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><p>"Do you really think the relics would be in a cave?" Pyrrha asked her blond companion.<p>

The two had stumbled upon a rather large cave opening and were now debating on if the initiation would have them go on a spelunking trip to retrieve the relics.

Naruto shrugged before reaching up and tearing a sizable branch off of a nearby tree. Reaching into his jacket the blond pulled out what appeared to medical bandages and proceeded to wrap the bindings around the top of the branch. To Pyrrha's surprise the small fox kit who had seen sleeping cracked open a single eye before bringing its tail to the top of the makeshift torch. With not even a grunt of effort a small red flame flickered to life on the tip of the fox's tail before leaping to the torch, igniting it, and providing them a much needed source of light.

Now that Pyrrha was focusing intently on the fox wrapped around Naruto's neck she began to take notice of its unique features. Where other foxes where a variety of colors, Naruto's fox was a color she had never seen before. Its fur was a burnt orange color bordering on a dark red. Even the fox's tail was unique as, instead of the normal short yet fluffy tail most fox were known for, this fox's tail was quite long, long enough to easily wrap around Naruto's neck and drop down to his chest somewhat. Then there was its face. Stretching from the area surrounding its eyes and reaching up to its ears was a patch of black fur, which was also seen outlining its lips. It also had a rather long and skinny body that gave it an almost human like appearance. Then there were the eyes. A crimson so vibrant and like blood that it put her own red tresses to shame.

All in all Naruto's fox was different and seemed to even be able to understand human speech and conjure flames on a whim.

"What kind of fox is that Naruto?" Pyrrha asked, the curiosity nagging at her.

Kurama turned and regarded the teen, burning crimson eyes staring at her with such intensity that it felt like the fox was peering through her, judging her very being. It left Pyrrha feeling uncomfortable. Seemingly satisfied with its judgement of her the fox let its head fall and its eyes close, apparently going back to its napping.

Naruto spoke up, returning her attention back to the blond as he motioned for her to follow him into the cave, "He's not so much a fox as he is a Kitsune, a branch of the fox family though far more intelligent and powerful, something he likes to brag about."

Pyrrha just nodded her head at the vague reply, understanding that Naruto still had some secrets to keep. She didn't mind and was more than happy to wait and let Naruto tell her when he was ready. As it was he had already told her about a rather significant part of his past.

As the two ventured even deeper into the cave, they both began to grow anxious, neither liking the dark enclosed space. As they trudged on and on, there was an odd sense that they shouldn't be there, a foreboding feeling that seemed to whisper into their ear to leave and go no further.

"Uh Naruto, are you sure the relics are in here?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Right now? Not really," Naruto admitted with a chuckle.

Deciding to cut their losses the pair turned around and began to make their way back out of the cave. However both paused in their steps upon hearing...something moving just behind them.

_'Kit...you need to go...NOW!'_

Without even a second thought Naruto tossed the torch to the ground and picked up Pyrrha bridal style before pushing chakra into his legs and powering forward in a dead sprint. Pyrrha didn't even bother to ask what was going on, having seen five pairs of burning red eyes peering at her and Naruto through the darkness. Instead of playing the damsel in distress, Pyrrha pulled out her spear and shifted it into its rifle form before firing off a full clip at whatever was chasing them.

Clearly whatever it was had thick armor as she could hear the bullets bouncing off of what she suspected to be a large Grimm.

Not one to be so easily stumped in battle Pyrrha reached down to her belt before pulling out a different clip, this one full of rounds imbued with Fire Dust, giving them that much more kick. Quickly swiveling her body, the redhead looked down her sights as she fired over Naruto's shoulder. This time the bullets seemed to pierce the Grimm's armor just enough to cause it to slow down. None too soon either as Naruto sped through the cave entrance, bringing them back into the bright light of day.

Only seconds after, the cliff the cave had lead into erupted into a shower of rumble as a massive scorpion like Grimm burst through the opening, letting out a screech of hunger and power.

With acidic stinger and pincers poised to tear them to shreds Naruto and Pyrrha shared a look before nodding. Turning on their heels the pair began to book it as fast as they could, intent on putting space between them and the massive Death Stalker Grimm that would like to have them for lunch.

_'Why does everything I do have to end up going horribly wrong?' _Naruto lamented.

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><p>Meanwhile a certain busty blonde and her raven haired partner managed to stumble on what looked to be the remains of a long since abandoned temple. The only standing part of the ruin was a circular platform upon which stood various stone pedestals. On those pedestals were what looked to be chess pieces of some kind.<p>

Yang turned to her silent partner and asked, "Think this is it?"

Blake just gave the blonde a deadpan stare before making her way to the stone ruins. Yang shrugged before following.

As the pair inspected the ruins and what they assumed to be the relics Blake spoke, "Chess pieces?"

"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well I guess we should pick one," Blake replied in an unsure tone. When Ozpin had said relics they had assumed it would be some ancient and valuable artifact, not chess pieces.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang cheered.

Blake rolled her eyes, but it was easy to see the amusement on her face, "Sure."

"Well that wasn't too hard!"

The raven haired teen shrugged, "Well it's not like this place is difficult to find."

* * *

><p>Still running for their life, Pyrrha and Naruto sneezed in sync. Despite the massive Grimm only yards behind them, the pair looked at each other before shrugging at the odd coincidence.<p>

"Duck!" Pyrrha called out as the Death Stalker attempted to skewer Naruto with its stinger.

The blond reacted quickly, curling himself into a ball and rolling to avoid the no doubt toxic point of death.

Pyrrha tossed her shield like a frisbee, hoping to cause some damage only for the scorpion on steroids to easily smack it aside with a pincer. Naruto quickly ducked and weaved through the pincers and grabbed the fallen shield before performing a short flip into the air. Just in the nick of time as well, seeing as the scorpion like Grimm had attempted to catch him in one of its pincers.

Naruto fell quickly back down and used the pincer as a springboard, shooting off into the air to catch up with his teammate. Landing with a roll, Naruto was quick to recover and popped up running alongside his red haired partner. The two resumed their little "run from the scary thing that wants to kill us" exercise, Naruto handing Pyrrha back her shield as they ran for all they were worth.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear that?" Yang asked, worry evident in her words.<p>

Blake just nodded, an equally worried look on her face. Within the span of a few seconds the sounds of fights were erupting from everywhere in the forest. Of course Yang was more worried about her sister than anyone else. Just as Yang was preparing to go out and look for her sister, the two heard a scream coming from close by. Looking up both Blake and Yang's eyes widened when they saw a panicked Ruby falling from the sky, headed straight towards them.

"HEADS UP!"

For the second time in two days Ruby found herself falling into the arms of her shocked sister.

Their attention was diverted elsewhere, when a rather large Ursai Grimm waltzed out of the tree lines, roaring in what seemed to be anger. Before the bear like Grimm could proceed any further there was flash of pink and a childlike exclamation of, "YEE HAW!"

Rolling from the now more than likely dead Ursai's back was a pouting Nora Valkyrie, "Aww, it's broken."

Her partner and friend, Lie Ren, clambered over the fallen form of the Grimm, panting and looking quite exhausted.

"Nora...don't...ever do that again," the raven haired teen said in between gasps for air.

Looking up he realized that he was only talking to himself and that Nora had made her way to the ruins, clearly entertained by the shiny golden chess pieces. Grabbing a rook she began to dance around proclaiming, "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"

Tired and frustrated by the day's events Ren barked out, "Nora!"

The eccentric orange haired girl immediately stopped her dance, the rook planted precariously on her head, and saluted her friend, "Coming Ren!"

Stunned, Blake was the one to voice the question on everyone's mind, "Did that girl just ride in on in Ursa?"

Both Yang and Ruby, who was still in her sister's arms, continued to gape at the very odd girl, "Uhhhh..."

Before any other questions could be asked, their attention was turned to the tree line where a running Naruto and Pyrrha emerged. Following shortly behind them was a massive Death Stalker who looked intent on having the pair for lunch, tearing up trees as it did so.

Again Blake was the one to address the obvious, "Did they seriously run all the way here with a Death Stalker on their tail?"

Obviously at her wits end with all the odd occurrences happening Yang exploded...literally, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! COULD EVERYONE CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!?"

As Yang seethed in frustration, Blake calmly stood there with her arms crossed. Ren finally caught up to the group, still slightly out of breath while Nora acted like everything was normal and stood there fidgeting. Ruby was staring at the sky with a worried look before she tugged on her sister's sleeve like a small child, "Um...Yang."

Yang let her head fall in frustration, not even wanting to know what else was going to happen. Still she and the others looked up only to be shocked yet again.

There was Weiss Schnee...flying...by hanging onto the talon of a Nevermore...a very large Nevermore.

"How could you leave me!?" The Schnee heiress managed to cry over the howling winds.

Ruby shrugged, "I said jump!"

Blake decided to chime in with her usual monotone, "She's gonna fall."

"She'll be fiiinnne," Ruby waved.

Joining the conversation Ren stated the obvious, "She's falling."

Meanwhile the still running Naruto and Pyrrha peered up at the sky seeing the falling Weiss.

Internally Naruto sighed, _'Damn my hero complex.'_

Putting on the brakes, Naruto came to a sudden halt and turned to face the rampaging Death Stalker. Pyrrha came to a stop a few yards after Naruto had and shouted out the blond in worry, "Naruto! What are you doing!?"

Naruto sheepishly grinned before turning to the oncoming Grimm with a serious look to his whiskered face. The teen crouched low, preparing for something, what exactly that was no one knew. The blond tended to do the unexpected it seemed. This was further proven by Naruto's next move.

As the Death Stalker was only feet away from Naruto, the teen leapt up, landing directly on the white armor like plating of the massive Grimm. Naruto didn't stop there however, and began to sprint across the Grimm's back. In seconds flat Naruto had covered the entirety of the scorpion like Grimm's back and was running up its outstretched tail. Reaching the tip, Naruto crouched before launching himself through the air.

Using a small amount of Wind Chakra Naruto pushed himself forward, just in time to catch Weiss in his arms.

"Fancy meeting you here Princess," was Naruto's cheeky comment.

Weiss huffed in annoyance, "Not that I'm ungrateful but what now? We're both falling to the ground in case you didn't notice."

Naruto took on a pensive look before shrugging casually, as if falling from a hundred or so feet wasn't anything to worry about.

Weiss face palmed and angrily muttered to herself, "Ugh. Boys."

Without even batting an eye the Schnee heiress reached to her side and pulled out the silver rapier sheathed at her side. Pointing it below them she called upon her Semblance, creating a complex set of what looked to be runes below them. Naruto looked at the glyphs with a critical eye.

The Uzumaki clan was known for two things: their incredible longevity and their innate prowess in the art of Fuinjutsu. Their longevity allowed them to survive what most would consider mortal wounds and continue fighting. The Uzumaki talent for the Sealing Arts helped them earn infamy as one of the most powerful clans and villages around. They were so feared that during a previous war it had taken the power of three of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to take them down and even then the villages only succeeded in forcing the Uzumaki clan to spread across the different countries.

Naruto's father, while not of the Uzumaki clan, was also a powerful and knowledgeable user of Fuinjutsu. The man's genius had allowed him to perfect the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), a jutsu that allowed the user to bend space and time so they could teleport instantaneously. With the technique Naruto's father had slaughtered a whole battalion of enemy shinobi in seconds flat. It was then that he had earned his title as the Konoha no Kiiroi Senko (Yellow Flash of Konoha).

As the son to an Uzumaki and the Yellow Flash Naruto had inherited his parents' proclivity to seals and the runes Weiss had just called upon with a whim absolutely fascinated him. Had the Uzumakis been able to write their seals on thin air they would have been that much more powerful, and probably been able to fight back the forces that had destroyed their home.

Considering that despite Weiss taking care of the current situation, there was still a pissed off Nevermore and Death Stalker to deal with, Naruto decided to push his fascination with Weiss' Semblance to the back of his mind.

Landing on the very solid rune formation, Naruto waited to see if Weiss was going to continue to help considering they were still quite high in the air. Again Weiss huffed before creating several of the rune platforms, all of which descended in a manner that made them resemble a staircase. Naruto shrugged and proceeded to hop his way down using the Aura created platforms.

As they touched back down on solid ground and Naruto placed the white haired teen on her feet he began to have flashbacks to a certain pink haired teammate of his as Weiss chewed him out.

"Some hero you are! I may as well have saved myself!"

"...well why didn't you?"

Weiss sputtered to come up with a rebuttal and when none came she resorted to her go to maneuver...of huffing and pouting.

_'I swear she's like Sasuke and Sakura rolled into one...except in white,' _Naruto quipped.

Kurama was more than happy to throw in his own two cents, _'Just be happy we don't have to deal with her. Kami knows I would end up either murdering her or myself...probably the former. In fact...'_

_'No Kurama we are not murdering Weiss. Remember she's the heiress to a wealthy and powerful family?'_

_'And you're a shinobi. You were trained for these kinds of missions!'_

_'Ok look we have a giant ass scorpion and __an__ even bigger bird to deal with right now, not the time to be discussing the assassination of an heiress.'_

_'You say that like these pests actually pose a problem. You and I both know that even the old dumbass you could handle these things with little__ difficulty__.'_

_'Yea well I don't exactly want to just toss out a few jutsu and have people asking questions, not right now at least.'_

Kurama grinned in satisfaction at his container's answer, _'My my kit you really are my Jinchuuriki _(Power of the Human Sacrifice)_.'_

Naruto chose to ignore the comment, already knowing what the fox meant by that. As he became more of a shinobi, he also became more like a fox, becoming trickier and more cunning. Funny how in the Shinobi era he had been anything but. Now during this time of Hunters and Huntresses he was becoming more like a true shinobi.

Shaking those thoughts off Naruto felt Pyrrha next to him, panting a bit with a slight sheen of sweat covering her, no doubt from the little marathon run they had been motivated to take part in.

At seeing Pyrrha's appearance Yang chose to sarcastically cheer, "Great the gang's all here! Now we can all die together."

Ruby piped up, intent on proving to everyone there that she was just as capable of a warrior as any of them, "Not if I can help it."

Before anyone could stop the young teen, Ruby was off in a dead sprint, charging towards the oncoming Death Stalker with her massive scythe trailing behind her and cloak fluttering in the wind.

Obviously worried for her sister Yang called out, "Ruby! Wait!"

Naruto meanwhile could only sigh and facepalm, _'Kami damnit.'_

With a cheeky grin on his face Kurama piped in, _'Remind you of anyone?'_

Naruto only responded with a glare, _'Not. A. Word.' _

Kurama said nothing more with only the sounds of his booming laughter echoing through Naruto's head as his response.

Sighing Naruto prepared himself for the more than likely inevitable rescuing he would have to do...again. It wasn't that he thought Ruby was weak, far from it after all she wielded that bigass scythe of hers like it was a feather. However she wasn't exactly thinking straight right now. Running towards a massive Grimm screaming bloody murder wasn't the brightest of ideas, no matter how skilled you were.

He and the others winced in sync as they saw Ruby power herself forward with the help of the recoil from the gun portion of her scythe...gun...thing. Even still she was too slow as the Death Stalker was able to smack her aside like she was nothing but an annoying fly.

Struggling to stand, no doubt dazed from the blow, Ruby yelled out in a strained voice, "D-don't worry! To-totally fine!"

Turning around Ruby realized far too late that the Grimm had taken the opportunity to close the distance between them, now staring at her hungrily. Panicking she fired off a shot at its face, serving only to irritate it, and turned and began to run as fast her legs could carry her.

Yang saw the obvious danger her sister was in and began to sprint her way to Ruby. Luck wasn't with them as it seemed the Nevermore had decided to help its fellow Grimm and circled around. With a mighty flap of its wings it unleashed a rain of its own feathers, the points of which were as sharp as any blade. Like gunfire they rained down onto the ground, embedding themselves deep into the earth. Murphy's Law decided to rear its head and one of the feathers managed to catch up to Ruby and run straight through her cloak, pinning her to the ground.

Several more of the feathers managed to find their way to Yang, causing her to stumble so that she could avoid being skewered to death. Racing to her feet she saw Ruby frantically tugging at her pinned cloak in an attempt to free herself.

"Ruby! Get out of there!"

A very much so panicking Ruby answered back, "I'm trying!"

Turning to look upwards as a shadow covered her, the red haired teen turned wide grey eyes to see the Death Stalker prepping its massive stinger, aimed straight at her. Clenching her eyes, the young teen prepared for the worse.

Seconds ticked by and when there was no pain she wearily opened her eyes to see a wall of ice holding the stinger of the Death Stalker back. The voice of Weiss came up as the Grimm struggled to free its tail, "Ugh, you are so childish!"

"Weiss?"

Standing from her crouched position Weiss only continued on her mini rant, "And dim witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style. Though I...suppose...I can be a bit...difficult, but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together."

Sighing in what appeared to be mock frustration the white haired teen continued, "So if you quit trying to show off I'll be...nicer."

Ruby shook her head, "I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine."

As Weiss waltzed off Ruby let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding, "Normal knees."

As Yang raced to crush her sister to death in a hug, Naruto smiled, _'Hmm. Guess __Princess __isn't as bad as we thought.'_

Once the teens had all regrouped Naruto decided to voice the obvious, "I doubt Princess' ice prison is gonna hold that thing for long and we also have a rather angry Nevermore circling back around."

For once Weiss was the one to voice her opinion, "Look there's no sense in dilly dallying, our objective is right in front of us."

Ruby chimed in with her agreement, "She's right, our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement with the pair's assessment while Yang looked at her sister with noticeable pride.

Naruto shrugged, "So tactical retreat then?"

With a round of nods, those who hadn't already retrieved an artifact made their way up to the platform. Naruto observed the options before noticing that there seemed to be doubles of each piece.

_'Why would they do that? Sure doubles of a piece, but to have two in the same color? Unless that whole partner speech was only half the truth and they plan on putting two pairs together to form a full team. Man this is like Kakashi's bell test all over again.'_

Shrugging and decided to let the pieces fall where they would, Naruto grabbed a golden rook piece while he saw Ruby grab a golden knight piece. He offered a smile and thumbs up, silently praising her on her plan. Ruby giggled at Naruto's cheesy gesture before smiling back. The two walked back to their partners and their group just in time to see the Death Stalker beginning to crack its icy prison.

As it freed its stinger and shattered the ice that had held Naruto turned to the group, "And that would be our cue to get the hell out of here!"

The others nodded with him, turned, and began to book it back towards the cliffs. As they ran the sun was eclipsed by the massive shadow of the Nevermore flying above them. Spotting even more ruins ahead of them the group attempted to take cover as even more of the Grimm's feathers hailed down. Flying ahead the Grimm perched itself at the top of what remained of a stone tower, blocking them from reaching the cliffs that lay just beyond it.

To make matters worse the Death Stalker decided to make its appearance, pinning the group between it and the waiting Nevermore.

Mentally cursing Naruto reached for the scroll at his side. As he unfurled it he and the others had decided they had a better chance of making it around the Nevermore than they did staying and trying to fight both it and the Death Stalker. Biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood, getting curious looks from the others as he did so, the blond ran his bloody digit across the scroll. What followed was a poof of smoke that obscured Naruto from everyone's vision.

Swiping a hand the through the air, Naruto cleared enough of the smoke to reveal that he was now holding what they assumed to be his weapon. Gripped tightly in his hands as he stared the Death Stalker down was a shakujo, or monk's staff, that was easily a few inches taller than him. The metallic pole was a deep ebony black, seeming to absorb the very light around it. The ring that sat atop of the staff was a burnt orange color, matching the color of Kurama's fur almost exactly. Running vertically through the ring was a simple bar covered in black leather. Stitched into the leather were etchings of six magatama, comma shaped symbols. Instead of the usual rings that dangled from the main ring, Naruto's shakujo had nine short lengths of chain hanging from it.

With his back turned to them the blonde called out, "You guys go and get to the cliffs! Me and Kurama will hold off this overgrown bug!"

As if to show them he was more than capable of holding the two Grimm off Naruto spun the staff around and to their slight shock flames began to dance on the chain links. Sweeping it through the air in front of him Naruto unleashed a ball of flames aimed straight at the Death Stalker.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball technique)!"

The Grimm, unable to move its lumbering body fast enough, took the brunt of the inferno directly to its face. The group heard a screech of pain come from the Grimm, but we're none too surprised to see it come out with only a few scorch marks on its armor. To Naruto's surprise Pyrrha appeared at his side, taking a knee, and aiming down her sights at the Grimm before unloading on it.

"We're partners, so that means we stick together," was Pyrrha's reply to Naruto's unspoken question.

Yang grinned and with a flick of her arms, the yellow bracelets on her wrists extended, covering her hands and extending a few inches past her wrists. Ruby unclasped her weapon and with a quick spin it was in its scythe form. Nora giggled and twirled her own weapon around, revealing it to be a massive war hammer. Both Weiss and Ren sighed before simply pulling out their own weapons and taking a ready stance.

"Guess we make a stand here huh, Foxy?" Yang quipped as the Nevermore circled above them like a vulture.

Naruto grinned right back at his fellow blonde, "Looks like it Firecracker."

Yang laughed at the nickname Naruto had decided to give her, feeling it fit her perfectly.

Seeing the two Grimm closing in, Ren decided to be the voice of reason, "So what's the plan?"

Naruto let a feral grin stretch across his face, "Hit 'em hard, and hit 'em fast!"

"I like it!" Ruby chimed in.

Weiss could only face palm, "Of course you would like that plan."

Twirling his shakujo with his fingers Naruto crouched low, "Less talking, more fighting!"

And with a burst of speed the blond was gone, making a beeline straight for the Death Stalker. Pyrrha nodded at Nora, giving the girl the unspoken order to follow the blond's lead as she and Ren provided covering fire. With a cheer the hammer wielding girl fired off a shot, the recoil pushing her forward and through the air.

"Don't forget about me Foxy!" Yang called out as she chased after Nora and her fellow blonde.

Taking a knee while Ren and Blake stood next to her, Pyrrha and the two raven haired teens began to unleash a hail of bullets, hoping to cause enough of an annoyance to the Death Stalker to give Yang, Nora, and Naruto an opening to use.

Seeing that the group was more than capable of handling the Death Stalker, Ruby and Weiss turned their eyes skyward, watching the Nevermore as it circled around them. Nodding to Weiss, Ruby folder her scythe into its rifle form before taking a knee and aiming upwards. Weiss stood over her and used her Semblance to create a circle of runes that burned a fiery shade of red. Using the scope on her weapon Ruby took aim at the Nevermore as it turned to focus on them.

Finally getting the gargantuan bird in her sights Ruby pulled the trigger of her rifle, letting a bullet fly from the barrel before it collided with the rune Weiss had created. Emerging out of the circle was not a bullet, but now a blazing ball of flames, hurtling through the air straight at the Nevermore. Cocking her gun yet again, Ruby let another bullet fly, creating another flaming projectile.

Seeing the blazing orbs flying straight at it, the Nevermore attempted to change its course, but due to its large size it was unable to do so quickly enough. As a consequence for its lack of maneuverability, the Grimm took both of the fireballs straight to the wing, causing it enough pain to make it screech. Still the Grimm seemed only to be made even angrier by this.

Glaring at Ruby and Weiss, it began to flap its mighty wings. Instead of the expected hail of feathers though there was only a heavy increase in the wind speed, enough of an increase to cause both Ruby and Weiss to be flung off their feet, tumbling away from the rest of the group.

Looking up from her position on top of the Death Stalker, Yang saw her sister being flung away from the others and was quick to react. Naruto saw the same thing and knew Yang would want to make it to her sister as quick as possible.

"Yang!"

The busty teen turned to the blue eyed Uzumaki and saw him gesture to his cupped hands. Understanding the gesture, she rushed towards Naruto. With a slight hop she placed her right foot into the cupped hands of Naruto. Pushing down as Naruto pushed up Yang was propelled up and over Naruto. Firing off a shot from the gauntlets on her hands Yang used the recoil to push her further and faster through the air.

Seeing her partner headed towards them and seeing where she was no doubt aiming, Blake unwrapped most of the ribbon that she used to tie her weapon to her hand and flung the gun portion of it towards the flying Yang. The blonde grabbed the gun and with a heave Blake managed to swing her partner around, giving her that much more momentum.

As Yang chased after her sister Blake turned to Pyrrha, silently communicating her want to follow her partner. The redhead understood quickly and offered her shielded back in return. Blake nodded gratefully before running towards Pyrrha. With a spin, Blake changed her direction as she landed on Pyrrha's shield, making her face the direction in which Yang had gone. With a shove Blake pushed herself off the bronze surface with enough force to send her off in a fashion similar to Yang.

Turning her gaze back to the Death Stalker, Pyrrha sweat dropped as she saw Nora happily wailing on the Grimm with her hammer, surprisingly causing slight dents in its armor. Naruto, while more restrained, was still as odd as he jabbed his shakujo into the few areas where the Grimm's armor didn't cover. Still all of this only served to make the Grimm that much angrier. Like a bucking bull the Death Stalker crouched and then quickly raised itself, sending both Nora and Naruto flying off its back.

Naruto flipped in the air, landing perfectly on his feet like nothing had happened. Nora was a little more flamboyant about her landing, curling into a ball and then uncurling at the perfect time to land on her feet. Flinging her arms into the air like a gymnast she called out, "Ta dah!"

Naruto held up a small white paper with the number nine written on it. Kurama unfurled his tail and on it was grasped a similar white paper with the number six on it.

Nora pouted, "Meanies!"

Ren shook his head while Pyrrha giggled at the the odd trio.

"Guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but there is still the matter of the Death Stalker to deal with," Pyrrha pointed out.

Naruto nodded as he warily stared at the Death Stalker, "None of our weapons can pierce that armor of its, even with Nora's help."

Moving as one the group evaded the pincer that had slammed into where they had just been standing, the impact causing a small dust cloud to form. The Death Stalker roared in frustration as its prey escaped it once again.

Narrowing his eyes Naruto continued his speech, "But it doesn't have any armor on its belly. That's where we gotta hit."

Taking into account what he knew of his impromptu team's abilities Naruto tried to think of a plan that would give them the opening they needed, something easier said than done.

_'Man it's times like this I wish I had Shikamaru with me. He was lazy as hell, but would have had like twenty different plans on how to take this thing down by now,'_ Naruto sighed.

Running his gaze over the Death Stalker that was now making its way towards them again, Naruto took note of another place its armor didn't cover.

With a grin the blond Uzumaki called out, "Legs!"

The other three teens regarded the Grimm and instantly saw what Naruto meant. Having come up with the idea and being the fastest of the four, Naruto lead the charge, Pyrrha following behind him, Nora behind her, and Ren bringing up the rear. Just as the Death Stalker attempted to catch them in its pincers, the group split into its pairs, Naruto and Pyrrha rushing off to the right side while Nora and Ren took the left.

Firing off shots from his twin pistols, Ren was able to punch holes in the legs of the Grimm. Thanks to their weakened integrity, he was able to quickly use the blades attached to his pistols and slice through two limbs with ease.

Nora on the other hand made a show of it by using her hammer like a baseball bat, swinging at the Death Stalker's exposed limbs with enough force to turn the bones in them into a fine powder.

On the opposite side of the odd pair Naruto and Pyrrha were handling their side with just as much ease. Pyrrha had transitioned her weapon into its short sword form and with her superior strength, cleanly cut straight the bottom half of the Grimm's leg. Tossing her shield like a deadly frisbee, she was able to just as quickly take care of the second leg.

Naruto followed behind her, and gripped the bar that lay inside the ring portion of his shakujo. With a tug Naruto revealed that hidden inside the pole of the staff was a razor sharp blade, the staff portion of the shakujo having acted as a sheath for it. The blade itself had only a single edge and lacked a curve, meaning that it was a chokuto class blade. Funneling his wind chakra through it Naruto was able to enhance its cutting power even more while also giving it an almost ethereal glow. With his sharpened sword the blond was able to easily cleave through the remaining legs of the Death Stalker like a hot knife through butter.

Jumping away Naruto joined the rest of his group as they watched the now legless Death Stalker cry out in pain and collapse to the ground. Without missing a heartbeat Naruto called out, "Nora! Now!"

Giving their impromptu leader a mock salute with a goofy grin stretched across her face Nora responded, "Yes sir!"

Letting her hammer fall to the ground Nora charged straight at the immobile form of the Grimm. As the eccentric teen closed the distance between her and the Death Stalker, Nora hefted her hammer up and as the weapon was inches away from its target the orange haired teen pulled the trigger on the handle, firing off a rocket and sending the hammer smashing against the underside of the Death Stalker's jaw. Due to the recoil from the shot, the hammer plowed into the Grimm with the force of a train.

Far too distracted by the pain of losing its limbs the Grimm was unable to defend itself in any way and took the full brunt of the attack, sending it into the air briefly before it collapsed on its side. Thanks to its rounded shape, the Death Stalker rolled onto its back, exposing its unprotected underbelly.

The group of four took advantage of the opportunity presented to them and quickly leapt on top of the now thrashing Grimm. Ren was the first to attack, unleashing a hail of bullets straight into the exposed underside of the Grimm's skill and then leaping off. Using the new opening given to her by the long haired male, Pyrrha was able to jab her spear further into the flesh of the Death Stalker. As she leapt off to join Ren, Naruto jammed his own weapon into the exposed flesh, his sword now standing perpendicular to Pyrrha's spear. With a mighty swing Nora smashed her hammer against the bottoms of the two weapons simultaneously, sending both Naruto and Pyrrha's weapons tunneling through the skull of the Grimm like a pair of railroad spikes.

The two sharp weapons pierced straight through the Death Stalker's skull, coming out the other side and ending up in the ground below the now unmoving corpse.

As the body of the Death Stalker began to fade into the wind the four teens began celebrating their victory over the massive Grimm. Nora let out a cheer of excitement, while Ren collapsed to the floor with a sigh and shake of his head. Pyrrha and Naruto shared a simple high five and smile.

Turning his head along with the others, Naruto let a grin stretch across his face as he witnessed Ruby coordinate her own group. The four worked in a surprisingly synchronized fashion for having only worked together for a few minutes, if that. Yang and Blake provided the distraction, with the ravenette also providing her unusually long and elastic ribbon for Ruby, creating a makeshift slingshot. Weiss then created a circle of ruins that he assumed would speed up Ruby even more.

Naruto was proven correct as Ruby soared through the air, the combination of the recoil from her scythe's gun half and Weiss' glyphs pushing her to very impressive speeds. What happened next threw even Naruto for a loop. Ruby hooked her scythe around the throat of the Nevermore, her feet landing solidly against the cliff face. Weiss again created more runes, making a line of them that drove straight up the cliff. Ruby used the runes to stick herself to the sheer cliff wall and began to give gravity the finger by scaling up the rocky wall, dragging the Nevermore behind her.

Firing off shots at a constant rate, Ruby was able to maintain her speed and quickly cover the entirety of the cliff in the matter of a few seconds. Reaching the cliff's plateau, the body of the Nevermore was stuck underneath the lip of said plateau. Another shot and a burst of speed from what he assumed to be her Semblance and Ruby's scythe cleaved straight through the Nevermore's neck, severing the head from the rest of its body.

As the the now headless corpse began to fall down the abyss at the bottom of the cliff, even Naruto had to admit what he had just seen was pretty damn awesome. To tie all together, there Ruby stood at the cliff top, scythe in hand, her cloak fluttering in the wind while rose petals left over from her Semblance fell around her.

Grinning Naruto let out a whistle of appreciation at the sight.

_'Impressive...for a ningen _(human)_,'_ Kurama groused.

_'Stubborn old fox,' _Naruto retorted.

_'Blond haired idiot.'_

_'Furball!'_

_'Stupid monkey!'_

Everyone sweat dropped when they turned to see Naruto choking his fox while said quadruped was clawing at his face. The sweat drops grew even larger when the duo fell to the floor, Naruto throwing punches while Kurama bit and scratched.

"TAKE THAT BACK YOU BAKA-KITSUNE (Idiot Fox)!"

* * *

><p>Naruto stood with his arms behind his head as he listened to Ozpin announce the names of the team that had finished before he and the others had. His suspicion about two pairs being placed together to make teams of four being proven correct. Him and Kurama had only raised an eyebrow at seeing another parallel between the military system of Remnant and the Shinobi villages'. It seemed that the saying of "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it" was a universal truth.<p>

When it came time for him, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren to step up, he did so with a grin on his face.

Ozpin turned to regard the four teens that stood before him, though his gaze lingered on the blond male of the team for a little bit longer than the others.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Nora Valkyrie. Pyrrha Nikos. Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the gold rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team NNPR (Napier)."

Nora cheered and hugged Ren, who was attempting to hide his own smile. Naruto only grinned as he and Pyrrha exchanged a congratulatory look.

Ozpin coughed to gain their attention again and continued, "The leader of which will be...Naruto Uzumaki."

Cheers and clapping came from the audience while Pyrrha offered Naruto a smile and a pat on the back. Ren nodded at the blond and Nora gave him a goofy salute.

Naruto for his part looked neither shocked nor overly proud at hearing his being selected as the leader of the time. Instead he dropped his arms to his sides and bowed to Ozpin with a blank face, earning a raised brown from the headmaster. His teammates were just as shocked at seeing the usually smiling Uzumaki quickly become so serious. They were however relieved to see Naruto return to normal as he came up from the bow with a foxy grin on his tanned face.

Walking off the stage, the now named team NNPR bumped into Ruby and her own little group. Ruby hugged Naruto and offered her own congratulations. The moment was ruined when Yang grabbed her fellow blond in a headlock and began to give him a noogie.

Escaping from Yang's grip Naruto turned to look at Blake. In return the quiet teen offered Naruto a small nod of respect as her congratulations. Weiss was the odd one out as she scoffed and rolled her eyes. Naruto, already used to Weiss' type, grinned before poking her in her side, getting a surprised yelp from the Schnee heiress and laughs from everyone else.

Before Weiss could do anything to get revenge Ozpin began calling out their names and Weiss stomped off with a still giggling Ruby.

"And finally, Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Yang Xiao Long. You four retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team RWBY (Ruby), led by...Ruby Rose."

Once more cheers erupted from the audience. Yang rushed to crush her sister in another of her hugs while Weiss looked oddly offended. Blake meanwhile stood there stoically, taking the news with her usual brand of apathy.

As both teams RWBY and NNPR celebrated their successfully initiation and team assignments Ozpin looked on with a small smile.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be...an...interesting year," Ozpin muttered quietly to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>EDIT: <strong>i got some questions regarding the meaning of Naruto's team name. All the teams in Ruby's year were named after a color. I decided to stick with that theme, so Napier is a shade of green for those wondering.

**AN:** JEE-ZUS! God damn that was a friggin doozy to write! 24 pages and 9000 and some hundred words. Not the longest chapter I've written but it is up there. And that folks is mostly thanks to you. How could I not want to write such a monster when you guys were so vocal in your opinions of this fic.

Regarding said opinions!

There seem to be equal amounts of want for a harem pairing and a single pairing. Personally? I'm leaning towards a single pairing with either Pyrrha or Blake. However romance and all that will gradually make its way in as the characters grow and all that, so I'm not too concerned with it right now.

Though maybe I could spin it to be a pairing with Neo (Neopolitan) or Cinder! Why do the villains gotta be so hot?

Either way both sides raised a question/comment regarding Blake. Honestly? I don't like Sun. Both he and Neptune have done next to nothing. They've both helped...what..one time against Torchwick? Then for the Volume 2 finale they popped up for like 5 seconds...and that was it. Shit Jaune has done more than them combined!

And yes Sun played a role in Blake's whole thing (don't wanna spoil) but the way he did it was such BS in my opinion. Neptune was there as a foil to Jaune (sort of) but without Jaune there's really no reason for him to be there. Also I hated how the writers put them in there as a sort of arbitrary pairing for Blake and Weiss and that's it.

As such I think I'm gonna retcon both of them. For those not comic book savvy, retcon pretty much means their asses are getting deleted.

Even if this ends up not being a harem, so what. Team RWBY are really well made characters that don't need no man. They got each other!...no that doesn't mean Yuri either you pervs.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or pm'd me with a weapon idea! Sorry if I didn't go with yours, but this is something I talked out with my fellow nerd and friend, Vic. More details on Naruto's weapon will be revealed the more he uses it. Suffice it to say though that all the mechanics and the logistics of it have already been worked out.

As for Kurama. He WILL be playing a bigger role in future chapters, he won't just be Naruto's talking scarf or something like that.

Before I blabber on! I'd like to thank my friend Victoria who is helping me edit this and my Pokemon fic. I bounce ideas off of her and she helps me with the grammar and all that, so say thank you to her for cleaning up my messes.

On that note head to my profile for links to both mine and her YouTube accounts. We do music and gaming stuff together.

Also I'd appreciate it if someone would volunteer to do some art for this fic. Know anybody or wanna do it yourself? Pm me and we'll talk!

ALSO! Do you like Pokemon? Well me and Victoria do and we are super hyped for the Ruby/Sapphire remakes. In our hype we're doing a stream on our twitch accounts of the old Ruby and Sapphire on Thursday the 13th at 4 pm PST (7 EST). Come join us and hang out! The link to my Twitch account will be up on my profile so be on the look out!

All that said, leave a review and all that good stuff. Questions that you want answered ASAP? Pm me.

Until next chapter!

PEACE

OUT!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **I know I took awhile getting to this and I'm sorry for that. Between Pokemon ORAS coming out and having two research papers due for different classes I was busy with other things. Luckily I have a week off for Turkey Day (Thanksgiving) so between my marathons of playing ORAS and other things I figured I finally get to writing this out.

First off before I answer reviews, THANK YOU! We passed the one hundred mark in reviews! May not seem to be a big deal but it's always reassuring to see, especially on new ventures. Besides that though, 100 reviews on just two chapters, so that's pretty cool. So thank you guys for that! Who knows, hopefully this may smash through my DxD story's current title of most reviewed story, fingers crossed.

Some were wondering about the team name NNPR, in the sense of why the color. No, not every team is named after a color, Team SSSN for example. HOWEVER the teams from Beacon are indeed all named after a color. I don't know about the other kingdoms, but yea Beacon does a color theme.

As far as the whole pairing thing...meh I'll figure it out at a later date. I'll focus on establishing character and all that then worry about the romance. That's not to say there won't be some funny and/or fluffy moments between Naruto and the others. It just won't be anything concrete till I decide what I wanna do.

I will say this though, it's probably gonna be a single pairing. With who? I don't know yet.

There were also some worries about me focusing on like an angst side thing. Nope. There will be some conflict and drama and all but not so much that it spans like chapters. I don't enjoy reading drawn out angst episodes nor will I write em.

Other than that there wasn't much else to review. Y'all seem pretty happy with the story, given its only two chapters sooo...yup.

Oh! This chapter will feature some pretty big divergences from canon, what with Team NNPR taking the spotlight instead of RWBY. They'll pop up obviously but you guys know what they're doing already so that's taken care of.

Roll the chapter!

* * *

><p>Naruto was a little surprised when he saw his team's reactions, or lack thereof, when they found out that they'd all be sharing a room together. Although thinking about it, Nora was far too bubbly and innocent to really care about stuff like that and Ren was generally apathetic to most things in life. Pyrrha didn't look at all bothered by it either which he guessed was due to her being more focused on other things like actually training and getting to know her new friends.<p>

Of course Naruto could care less. Having Jiraiya as a godfather and mentor meant that he was pretty familiar with the female form. Besides that though, there were plenty of times he had to share a tent or even a bed with a female teammate on a mission and getting all flustered because of something as insignificant as gender was pretty immature, especially on a mission when you could very well die if you were not on guard at all times.

Even still he and the others stared questioningly at the current arrangement of furniture. All the beds were smooshed together in one corner with a dresser for each shoved into another corner. That wasn't even taking into account their own personal belongings either.

The room was clearly not big enough to hold four people and their things properly.

"Uhh...how the heck do they expect us to all fit like this?" Naruto asked aloud as he scratched his head in wonder.

Pyrrha shrugged and Ren offered a thoughtful frown as his response.

"Ooo! What if it's so that when the zombie apocalypse happens the zombies won't be able to make it around all this furniture!"

Pyrrha was quietly giggling at Nora's odd response while Ren, more than used to his friend's eccentricities, only sighed and shook his head. Naruto couldn't resist and just laughed at the hammer wielding girl's oddness. Nora herself continued to smile that goofy smile of hers.

_'Odd girl's stupidity aside, I say you just toss out two of the beds. You bunk with the hot red head and Mr. Life Is Oh So Boring over there can probably get the weird vixen to bang a smile onto his face,'_ Kurama spoke nonchalantly.

Naruto began to sputter as a blush spread across his face. He'd be lying if he said the thought wasn't tempting. Pyrrha was very attractive and he doubted Ren and Nora would mind the arrangement either. Though the thought of the two doing the naked tango was hilarious and he had to stop himself from ending up on the floor with tears of laughter streaming down his face.

He did not want to explain to anybody why he was suddenly dying of laughter.

Noticing that Pyrrha was sending him a questioning look, no doubt wondering why he was suddenly blushing, Naruto managed to pull himself together.

After a moment's thought he snapped his fingers as the proverbial light bulb went off, "Bunk beds!"

The other members of NNPR appeared to mull the idea over a bit before they gave their response.

"It would be the most efficient way to make this work," Pyrrha offered.

Ren nodded along in agreement with the redheaded teen's statement. Nora on the other hand was the most vocal about her opinion, "Yay! Ren! We're finally getting those bunk beds we've wanted since we were five! Maybe next we can go get that chinchilla I've always wanted! Or maybe a pet fox!...wait...no Naruto already has one. Hmm..."

Ren put hand to face in what seemed to be a perfectly executed performance of the universally known "Face Palm no jutsu". Then again having Nora as a friend probably gave him a lot of practice.

Naruto began to wonder how Ren didn't have a single gray hair by now. Stroking his non-existent beard in thought, the blonde was hit with an epiphany.

"That's why you dyed those parts of your hair pink! To hide your gray hairs!"

"Take that back! Ren does not have a single gray hair! I should know, I was the one who dyed his hair," Nora huffed in an effort to defend her long time friend.

As Nora and Naruto began a heated debate on hair color of all things, Pyrrha was torn between laughing her butt off or feeling sorry for Ren who looked to be close to smacking his head on a wall.

Before much else could happen the familiar voice of a certain scythe wielding girl's voice rang throughout the halls, "Uhh...TO CLASS!"

The four members of team NNPR turned to look at the clock at the wall and seeing that they only had five minutes to make it to class on time, began to hurriedly grab their school supplies before rushing out the door, feet behind the members of an equally rushing team RWBY.

As the two teams kept pace with each other in their mad dash to get to class on time Naruto casually struck up a conversation with his fellow team leader, "So is your room as cramped as ours?"

Ruby smiled upon seeing her blond friend and shook her head, "Nope! Not anymore!"

Naruto chuckled at the bubbly girl's response and replied, "What'd you do, toss out your beds?"

Again Ruby shook her head as they veered around a corner, narrowly avoiding a random passerby as they did so, "Nope! We just made bunk beds!"

"I guess what they say is true, great minds think alike!" Naruto replied back with a grin.

Our blonde protagonist could faintly hear Weiss scoff from behind them and mutter something about them being nuts. In response Naruto just turned back and childishly stuck his tongue out at the white haired Schnee heiress.

However his attention was diverted when he heard Pyrrha's voice call out to him, "Naruto! Look out!"

Turning around the blond Uzumaki cursed under his breath as he realized he was on a collision course with a random female student who didn't realize that she had a group of eight speeding teens headed towards her.

Deciding to show off a bit Naruto lowered himself closer to the floor before opening his arms, scooping the shocked teen into his arms.

"Sorry 'bout this!" He called as he casually tossed the girl over his head like a sack of potatoes.

The girl screamed as she feared that she was going to be trampled on by the other teens behind the blond, but was surprised when she was caught in the arms of a sheepishly grinning Pyrrha.

"We really are sorry about this," the redhead said before depositing her in a nearby hallway, out of the way of the rest of teams RWBY and NNPR.

For a few seconds the still frightened and astonished girl stood stock still, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened to her in the span of a few seconds. As her mind realized what had happened she robotically turned on her foot and began to make her way back down the hallway she had come from, deciding that it would be best if she never spoke of what had just happened.

* * *

><p>The two teams eventually made it to class on time without further incident. Minutes into the class however most of them were wishing that they hadn't made it on time.<p>

Professor Port, a short and rather large old man, was boring beyond measure.

Naruto was trying his damnedest to stay awake while Kurama had actually taken the train straight to snooze-ville and was lightly snoring away on his container's lap. Pyrrha was attempting to look interested, but it was clear that even she thought the professor was an absolute bore. Nora was not even trying to look interested and was instead doodling away inside her notebook. Ren looked even more apathetic than was his norm, something Naruto thought was scientifically impossible.

The only mildly interesting thing that had happened during the professor's lecture was his not so subtle attempt at flirting with Yang. Naruto was honestly surprised his fellow blonde hadn't straight up punched the guy's lights out, but that was him. Nonetheless he considered Yang a friend and made a mental note to offer her his services as the infamous Prankster King of Konoha.

If he could get away with putting itching powder on the robes of the Hokage, the so called strongest shinobi of Konoha who had a near 24/7 guard of highly trained shinobi from the ANBU Black Ops Division, then just imagine the pranks he could pull on some old Huntsman.

Pyrrha sweat dropped when she noticed that the formerly half asleep Naruto was now wide awake and furiously writing notes of some kind with a very mischievous grin stretching across his face.

Everyone's attention was drawn to Weiss though when the professor asked who thought themselves to have the traits of a true Huntsman or Huntress with the Schnee heiress promptly raising her hand.

The professor took this in stride and had Weiss go and retrieve her battle gear. When she returned, there in the middle of the class was a cage holding something that definitely wanted out.

As Naruto watched the rest of Weiss' team cheer her on, his eyes narrowed when he saw the rapier wielder grow frustrated. Naruto began to to pay even more attention as Weiss faced down the Boarbatusk that Professor Port had released from the cage. While he hadn't known the Schnee heiress for long he knew her style of fighting very well. The way she fought depended heavily upon her speed and ability to dance around her opponent, all while keeping calm and in control of the flow of battle. However it seemed that something, or rather someone, was making her exceedingly frustrated, throwing her fighting style off.

It was becoming increasingly clear who the source of said frustration was as the minutes ticked by and Weiss grew sloppier and sloppier with her movements. Evidently it was her own team leader, Ruby. Naruto had a feeling he knew exactly why as well. Like he and Kurama had said before, the Schnee heiress was like a female version of his old teammate Sasuke Uchiha.

Both were born into highly prestigious families and were raised getting almost everything they wanted handed to them on a golden platter. As such they grew to be arrogant, thinking themselves better than everybody else simply because of their upbringing and family name. Naruto didn't like to admit it, but there was a good reason for that arrogance.

It seemed that like Sasuke, Weiss had taken advantage of her wealth and family name, getting herself the best combat tutors that money could buy.

It certainly paid off.

While Weiss was far and away from being as strong as some of the shinobi he knew or even some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses he had met, she was still very much so ahead of her age. Ruby, Blake, and Yang were all strong in their own right, but Weiss was as well. Backed by her formal training and such, Weiss was a formidable opponent and would only come to grow stronger...if she allowed herself to.

It was true that she, again, like Sasuke, would grow to a level of strength that most could only dream of achieving thanks to her family name and wealth, but she would eventually hit a plateau of her own making. Only by opening up her mind and ridding herself of that arrogance would she be able to reach her proverbial peak.

After witnessing the little episode between Weiss and Ruby and Port's subsequent call for class to end, Naruto quietly collected his things and gave his team a look, letting them know that he would see them in a while. The four teens just nodded their heads, knowing that their leader would want to help in any way he could.

As Naruto caught up to Ruby and Weiss, he caught the tail end of their conversation. Hearing what Weiss said Naruto had to resist the urge to go up to Weiss and physically knock some sense into her.

"Ozpin made a mistake."

Naruto could see just how much that hurt Ruby to hear from Weiss, someone she considered a friend and he was sorely tempted to go up to Ruby and console her.

However seeing the silver haired headmaster of Beacon only feet away from Ruby, Naruto knew she would be in good hands and instead decided to look for Weiss. He was not just going to sit back and watch a team fall into the same faults that had caused his own team to shatter into pieces.

* * *

><p>Weiss sighed to herself and began to contemplate what she had said to Ruby. Part of her regretted saying what she had, knowing that while part of it was her true feelings, most of it was the result of pent up frustration. Misplaced frustration at that.<p>

True she was angry at Ruby and part of her was questioning why Ozpin had made the younger teen team leader, but she could have said so in a much more thought out and easier to swallow manner. Not in a way that had no doubt crushed Ruby. Ruby who really wasn't at all to blame.

As Weiss made to look for Ruby she was surprised to bump into the solid wall of flesh that was Naruto Uzumaki. Not in the mood for the usually cheerful blond, Weiss opened her mouth to tell the blonde haired Uzumaki to leave her alone, but her mouth was quickly snapped shut upon seeing the look in the teen's eyes.

Gone was the normally grinning and goofy blond, instead there was a decidedly very angry and frustrated Uzumaki.

"Follow me," was all that Naruto said.

Weiss would have normally brushed off the teen with her a scoff, but she found that the look in his eye compounded with the roughness in his voice made her extremely hesitant to disobey him. As such, she quietly followed behind Naruto as he led her out to a balcony that overlooked not only Beacon, but the whole kingdom of Vale.

For a minute neither said anything, Naruto with his arms crossed staring out at the city in the distance while Weiss quietly and impatiently waited for the blond to speak. When her patience was all but gone and her irritation steadily building, the Schnee heiress was ready to simply turn around walk away from Naruto.

The low voice of Naruto put that thought process to a stop though, "I had a teammate named Sasuke Uchiha. You remind me of him quite a bit. Both of you were born into prestigious families, both of you excel in combat, and both of you also view those around you as insignificant, or as obstacles in the way of your goals at best."

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she saw Naruto sigh and his shoulders fall. Still refusing to look at her he continued, "We realized how similar we were in some ways and forged a bond. Both of us were orphaned at a young age, people never saw us for who were, only seeing the titles and masks we put on, and most importantly, we had a goal that we trained day and night to achieve. In time we became like brothers. Then something happened. One of our village's greatest traitors offered him power, power to achieve his goal and Sasuke took it. From there things spiraled out of control. Sasuke abandoned our village, he turned his back on our bond, and he tried numerous times to kill me while I foolishly fought to bring him back home."

Weiss gasped in shock as Naruto wove his tale. To her it didn't make sense. What could possibly make a person turn on someone they viewed as a brother? What possible gain was there that could justify such a betrayal? Nonetheless the Schnee heiress waited with bated breath, wondering how this tale ended.

Taking a deep breath Naruto continued, "I will say this, Sasuke got what he wanted in the end. He got the power he had always wanted. With it he was able to finally achieve his goal and kill the man responsible for his family's death. However he realized that he was still left feeling empty. He had sacrificed everything; his morals, his friendships, and his sanity to achieve this goal and for what? A selfish notion of revenge?"

Feeling the emotional weight of the situation, Weiss asked the only question on her mind, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Naruto finally turned to look at Weiss and she was shocked to see his sapphire blue eyes looking at her with untold amounts of regret and sorrow.

"Because Sasuke was like a brother to me. I chased after him, intent on bringing him back home, thinking that I could put him back on the right path all the while watching as our team and friendship was destroyed beyond recognition. I'm telling you this, because I refuse to see it happen again. Weiss, you're strong, you're smart, and you are gifted, no doubt about that. But the minute you let that all go to your head, you become something else entirely. Just because things didn't go the way you wanted them to, the way you thought they should, doesn't mean you lash out at the people who care for you. You wanna prove to Ozpin and everyone else that you are an amazing Huntress? Then show them, but not at the price of friendships and who you are."

Again silence engulfed the duo, Weiss lost in her own thoughts while Naruto took some time to recompose himself. He hadn't told Weiss everything that had happened with Sasuke, but still it was enough to dredge up old feelings of failure and regret. To this day Naruto didn't know if that regret was over not being able to bring Sasuke back or that he himself risked so much on a fool's errand.

The Schnee heiress let out a yelp of surprise when Naruto popped up in her vision, their faces inches apart, and that same old goofy grin of his on his face now, "You got it...Princess?"

Weiss huffed as Naruto walked off laughing, hands crossed behind his head. Even still there was a small but noticeable smile on her face. As Naruto disappeared around the corner, the Schnee heiress spared the setting sun one last look before venturing off, an apology working its way through her mind.

From a balcony above the two teens a certain silver haired headmaster and his blonde haired deputy headmistress turned and began to walk away from the scene.

"Ozpin, you have to realize that we can't just let this boy continue without finding out more about him. He has too many secrets to allow him to be around the students," Glynda spoke in an urgent voice.

Ozpin seemed unperturbed by the day's events, calmly sipping his coffee.

"He hides no more secrets than you or I do and yet we are responsible for molding these young ones more than he is. Would it not be hypocritical of us to pry into his life in such a manner when we would not readily let him do the same?"

Glynda looked offended at the veiled insult but was quick to reply, "This is different Ozpin. We are adults-"

The headmaster was quick to cut Glynda off, "And they are not? We are entrusting them with the safety of Vale and its people. We allow them to waltz around carrying weapons of unbelievable danger and we trust them not to misuse them. It is only fair that we also trust them, and specifically young Naruto, to know when it is appropriate to keep secrets."

Glynda was quiet, finding no response to Ozpin's small speech.

As the two walked back to their own offices, neither saw a shadow part from the walls, falling to show a certain blond haired teen.

_'It's funny, Ozpin reminds me not only of Kakashi-sensei but Sarutobi-jiji (_Old Man/Grandpa Sarutobi) _as well.'_

_'Yes, yes I get it kit, there are so many parallels between here and Konoha. Enough now. I'm tired and would like to lay on a comfortable bed for once,' _Kurama huffed.

Naruto just stuck his tongue at Kurama, _'Yeah, yeah, whatever you lazy ball of fur.'_

* * *

><p>Finally after a long day of boring and useless, to Naruto, classes, team NNPR met back up in their shared bedroom and as one, collapsed onto their individual beds with a groan of relief.<p>

Naruto was the one to realize something though, "Guys...we still have to make the bunk beds and get situated."

The rest of team NNPR responded with a single unanimous groan of frustration.

Deciding to take the lead as the captain of the team, Naruto flipped onto his back and spoke aloud, "How about this, we take this time now to at least unpack a little and get to know each other and tomorrow morning we wake up a little earlier and at least make the bunk beds. Sound good?"

Getting a bout of that hyperactive energy she was known for, Nora jumped up and seated herself cross legged on her bed and replied with a salute, "Sounds like a plan Captain Naruto!"

The blond grinned as he heard Nora refer to him as the captain. Sure it wasn't Hokage, but it was good enough for him.

Ren slowly rose from his face down position and calmly seated himself on his own bed, Pyrrha doing the same whilst freeing her red locks from her usual ponytail and taking off the less than comfortable school blazer.

As the red head shook her head to rid herself of any remaining knots in her hair, Naruto had to force himself to look away, fearing that he would make a fool of himself if he stared any longer.

Clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment Naruto began, "Well I guess I'll go first then. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, Kurama, my precious people, and the color orange. I dislike how long it takes for ramen to be made, arrogant jerks, and bigots. My dream for the future is to make my precious people proud and live a happy life."

Pyrrha smiled as she heard Naruto's dream. It was an admirable goal while still being relatively simple and down to earth. Knowing what had happened to her friend's precious people though made her frown internally. All Naruto had left of his home and his loved ones were memories. Silently the red headed teen vowed to herself to make sure Naruto was able to achieve his dream and find more precious people to live it with.

"Oh! Oh! Me next!" Nora exclaimed as she fidgeted in her seat while raising her hand like a five year old on a sugar rush.

Laughing at his teammate's hyperactivity Naruto just pointed at her, "Go ahead Nora."

With her goofy grin on Nora spoke, "My name is Nora Valkyrie! I like Ren's pancakes, Ren, my family, and the color pink! I dislike mean people and people who hurt my friends and family. My dream is to live in my own castle and rule as queen of all pancakes!"

Naruto and Pyrrha chuckled upon hearing Nora's dream while Ren quietly shook his head. Nora was definitely an odd one, but that was what made her so fun to be around.

Seeing as Ren was being his typical quiet self, Pyrrha chose to take her turn, "My name is Pyrrha Nikos. I like baklava (1), my family, making new friends, and the color red. I dislike people who would commit atrocious acts like bullying, and people who only see others as tools for their own benefit. My dream is to become a teacher and maybe have a family of my own."

_'Naruto, meet Pyrrha, you're perfect match,' _Kurama joked.

Naruto coughed to hide his blush. As much as he hated to admit it, the fox was right. Pyrrha was damn close to being his dream girl. In a weird way she also sounded a lot like his own mother, minus the whole short temper thing. In that regard Pyrrha was the total opposite to his mother who was infamous for her short fuse and subsequent violent outbursts.

Thankfully before anyone could question Naruto's sudden cough, Ren decided it was his turn to to speak, "My name is Lie-Ren. I enjoy Jasmine tea, meditating, and certain people. I dislike those who interrupt my meditation time. My dream is to simply live my life as best I can."

_'Yup, definitely needs to get laid,' _Naruto nodded to himself.

_'Couldn't agree more kit. The weird vixen would probably do it if you worded it the right way,'_ Kurama chimed in.

The other members of team NNPR were left with questions when they saw Naruto and Kurama share a look, the same mischievous smirk on their faces. For some reason Ren felt that he was somehow going to have to sleep with one eye open around them from now on.

Letting out a yawn that spread around the room's occupants, Naruto stretched and said, "Well I say we let the girls shower first. Whoever isn't showering starts unpacking their things, at least the essentials like clothes. Since tomorrow is a short day we'll head out to one of the training fields and get to know each other's fighting style and such."

As Naruto and Ren got to unpacking some of their things, Nora and Pyrrha reached an agreement that Pyrrha would shower first then Nora would. The bubbly teen joked that maybe Ren should take her spot though, what with him having much longer hair than her. Everyone had a good laugh at Ren's expense while the raven haired teen simply sighed to himself.

Soon though the room was quiet, with the exception of Nora humming to herself something that sounded vaguely like "I'm queen of the castle~".

A few minutes later and Naruto had already unsealed some of his belongings from the scrolls he had on him, making sure that he did so as discreetly as possible. He was probably going to tell them about his Fuinjutsu after classes the next day, but he didn't really want to surprise them by pulling clothes and such out of a seal on a scroll. Even he knew it was a little odd to see.

However he had stumbled upon a book that he had forgotten was sealed into one of his scrolls and was soon absorbed in his own little world. Kurama had long since claimed a pillow and was curled into a ball snoozing away.

Being so into the book, Naruto jumped a little when he felt a soft hand touch his arm. Turning he saw Pyrrha smiling at him and was his usual around the red head, he began to blush. No one could really blame him either. With her hair let down and looking especially silky after her shower and clothed in a simple red tank top and black gym shorts, Pyrrha was looking especially beautiful. That wasn't to say that she didn't always look extremely attractive, but even in her school clothes she seemed to exude this air of formality.

Clad in only her pajamas and with a soft smile on her face, Pyrrha looked less like "The Invincible Girl" and more like Pyrrha Nikos, the girl. Given she could probably still kick someone's ass six ways to Sunday even in her pajamas, but that was just Pyrrha.

"You look...great Pyrrha," Naruto muttered more to himself.

As per the laws of the universe however, Pyrrha heard it loud and clear, causing a blush to spring up on her face.

"Thanks," she shyly replied.

Normally she would be able to simply brush compliments like that off, being more than used to getting them thanks to her fame, but with Naruto it was a little different. She knew that despite his secrets, he was an honest and good guy who always put the needs of his friends above his own. She also knew that Naruto never said anything with an ulterior motive, at least to those he trusted.

That was the usual case with most of the people who complimented her. They always wanted something from her in return, like them complimenting her meant she owed them.

But Naruto said it simply to say it with no other motive, albeit he probably didn't mean for her to hear it.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the two teens still blushing, Pyrrha cleared her throat and pointed at Naruto's book, "What were you reading?"

Thankful for having something else to talk about, Naruto picked up the book with a small nostalgic smile, "It's called The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. It's the first book that my godfather ever wrote."

Pyhrra smiled upon seeing how much joy the book brought the blond and decided to seat herself at the edge of his bed, Naruto moving to accommodate his guest.

"What's it about?"

Naruto looked down at the book and slowly thumbed through the pages as he answered, "It's about a ninja who never gives up and vows that he'll break an evil curse that plagues his world."

Not knowing just how similar the book's plot was to Naruto's own life, Pyrrha continued, "Sounds like he's a hero. What's his name?"

The redhead was a little surprised when the blond began to chuckle softly before he looked her in the eye, still chuckling, "His name's Naruto."

Finally understanding why her friend was chuckling, Pyrrha also began to laugh softly, "So your godfather named the character after you?"

Shaking his head Naruto answered, "No, he wrote the book long before my parents were even together. My parents actually named me after the character in the book, hoping that I would grown up to be just like the Naruto in the story."

Pyrrha placed a hand on top of Naruto's, drawing his attention to her, "Well I'd say they got their wish."

It wasn't long till both realized that Pyrrha's hand was still touching Naruto's and almost as if being burned by a fire, they both recoiled. Blushing heavily Pyrrha stood up and nervously said, "Uh, I came to tell you the shower is free for you to use."

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks Pyrrha."

A few minutes later, a very relieved and tired Naruto stepped out of the shower to find his other teammates sleeping away. Throwing his dirty clothes into a hamper by the door he allowed himself to collapse onto his own bed, ready for Morpheus to take him into his realm.

As he began to drift off he heard the soft voice of Pyrrha, "Goodnight Naruto."

Smiling he whispered back, "Night Pyrrha."

* * *

><p>The next afternoon found a battle ready team NNPR occupying one of the high tech training facilities that Beacon boasted, Naruto having reserved them a two hour time slot earlier that morning. All of them ran through basic stretches together before they separated to go through their own unique warm ups which was something Naruto was happy to see.<p>

Jiraiya had all but pounded the importance of a good warm up into his head during their little training trip together. Of course for shinobi warm ups were a luxury. The enemy wasn't gonna let you get a couple stretches in so you could properly be warmed up.

Still it was interesting to see each of his teammates unique warm ups. Pyrrha's stretches and what not were more or less centered around her arms which, given her weapon, made the most sense. Of course that wasn't to say she wasn't working out her long legs either.

Naruto admitted that Pyrrha's height was odd to him, seeing as how most girls he had ever known peaked at around the five foot something mark. Even the guys he knew were relatively short, Jiraiya being rather unique with his six foot stature.

Once upon a time he himself had been woefully short, mostly due to his malnutrition. Thanks to his godmother Tsunade, another member of the Sannin, who was a world renown medic said to be capable of healing almost any wound, Naruto was forced to eat healthier. Thanks to his change in diet Naruto was able to put on a healthy amount of muscle and even began to grow quite tall.

What was odd was that he continued to grow tall. At the age of seventeen he stood at a solid six foot, five inches. Considering that his father topped out at five foot something and his mother was even shorter than that, Naruto's height was something of a mystery. Both he and Tsunade had chalked it up to his massive chakra reserves and having Kurama sealed in his body.

With his increase in height, Naruto was more than happy to brag about his towering height. Seeing as how even Yang was a head or so shorter than him, Naruto was sure that he could continue to do so. Pyrrha put a stop to that. Sure she was still shorter than him, but not enough so that he had to look down to look her in the eye. Shrugging Naruto just chalked it up to it being another quality that made Pyrrha different than most girls.

Turning to observe the other two members of the team, Naruto was none too surprised to see Ren meditating. He was a little surprised to see Nora actually carefully and tediously going through her own stretches and lifts. Then again he was the poster boy for the saying "looks can be deceiving". And besides that, he knew very well that despite her deceptively foolish demeanor, the girl could pack a whallop. After all she was the only one who was actually able to at least dent the armor of that Death Stalker on her own. Admittedly she was only capable of doing so after numerous Aura empowered hits, but it still showed just how much power her hits held.

Naruto shivered to think what kind of damage the hammer wielding girl could be capable of if she were to ever learn Tsunade's super strength technique. Tsunade herself was capable of creating fissures in the earth with a simple punch and that was on her worst days. Naruto had to resist the urge to scream in terror when he imagined what Tsunade would have been capable of with Nora's hammer.

Seeing the rest of his team ready to go for whatever he had in mind for them, Naruto stopped his own stretches before joining his teammates at the center of the training field.

"Alright now that we're all warmed up, it's time to get some actual training. From what I've seen you guys already know your own strengths and already have things you guys want to improve on. As such the best thing for us to do right now is to train on working as a team," Naruto paused to turn to Nora and Ren before continuing, "I already know you two know how to work together well so, for now, me and Pyrrha will team up and see how we fare against you two. Sound good?"

Ren nodded, agreeing with Naruto's assessment, while Nora...was Nora, "Yes sir! C'mon Ren time to show em the power of friendship!"

Chuckling Naruto turned to address Pyrrha as they walked to the other half of the field, "Alright so I already know you're pretty good at both long and short range combat. You have any preferences?"

"Well if I had to pick, I'd say close range, mostly because it takes me less time to prepare for, which I doubt those two will give us," Pyrrha replied.

Nodding his head Naruto agreed. Ren was agile and quick footed, but lacked stamina. As such he and Nora were likely to go with the hit hard and hit fast tactic. That was a very bad idea for them though.

Naruto was a stamina monster and could take hits that could kill most people and shrug them off like nothing, ready to keep going. He knew that Pyrrha, while not as much of a stamina monster like him, could hold her own. Add to that the fact that both he and Pyrrha were able to quickly analyze their opponents and come up with plans on the fly, they were the worst duo for Ren and Nora to go up against. He and Pyrrha could outlast them and use their fatigue as an advantage.

Of course that all sounded nice on paper. Naruto knew well enough that plans did not survive contact with an enemy, much less one as unpredictable as Nora. She was the unknown element. Naruto had fought so many agile and speedy opponents like Ren that he pretty much had a formula on how to beat them. Nora was like him though - strong, durable, a heavy hitter, and unpredictable.

"Well I guess we hit em as hard as we can and see if we can't tire em out. Just watch out for Nora, who know's what she'll pull out."

Pyrrha nodded as she pulled her shield and sword from her back, taking on a ready stance. Naruto unravelled the scroll that held his own weapon, unsealing it in a poof of smoke.

Across the field Nora and Ren had pulled out their respective weapons, looking just as ready as their teammates.

Calling out across the field Naruto spoke, "Alright! So team Red Storm versus team...uh…"

"Pancake!"

"..."

"..."

"...right. Team Red Storm versus team Pancake! Ready?...Go!"

In a burst of speed both Ren and Nora took off heading straight for Naruto and Pyrrha. More than prepared for this Naruto stuck his staff into the ground before reaching into the pouches on his thighs. Pulling his hands out, kunai knives were grasped in each of the open spaces between his fingers. Before he tossed the blades, Naruto made a quick mental thank you to the people responsible for Remnant's technology.

Normally he would have to carefully aim for non-vital spots lest he wanted to end up killing someone. Thankfully though, each of Beacon's training grounds were outfitted with some mechanism or other that layered the people in it with a barrier of sorts that blunted most damage. Where his knives would normally pierce, they would now only bruise and sting.

Pyrrha seemed to take advantage of this as well, swiftly situating her shield on her back before shifting her sword into its rifle form, taking aim, and letting loose a hail of bullets.

Despite knowing about the protection the training fields offered, Nora nor Ren were too keen on getting hit by any of the projectiles headed for them. The two childhood friends shared an almost imperceptible nod before Nora took point. Heaving her hammer into the air, Nora drove the massive weapon into the ground in front of them, sending chunks of the ground flying into the air, providing team Pancake with a suitable cover from Red Storm's rain of projectiles.

Ren however put the chunks of rock to further use, using them as a platforms that allowed him to swiftly hop his into the air over the rain of kunai and bullets.

Showing off his control over his body, Ren twisted himself in mid air, his twin pistols aimed straight at Naruto and Pyrrha. Applying the necessary force, Ren pulled the triggers and let fly his own hail of bullets.

Pyrrha and Naruto adjusted to the onslaught with relative ease.

The red head grabbed her shield off her back, crouched low, and hid behind the round bronze item. Using the curved groove in the shield, Pyrrha situated her rifle and began to answer Ren's bullets with her own.

Naruto meanwhile applied Chakra to his palm, sticking his staff to it, and, using a plentiful amount of Fuuton chakra, began to spin his shakujo at high speeds. Moving at the speeds it was, the staff was naught but a circular blur shielding Naruto from Ren's bullets.

Even with Ren finally coming down from his brief venture into the air, Pyrrha and Naruto were being kept pinned down by his non-stop hail of bullets, something Naruto had to question. Didn't this guy ever run out of ammo?

Before Naruto could pursue any theories on Ren and his endless supply of bullets, Nora finally decided to make her appearance, the recoil of her weapon propelling her straight for him. Cursing to himself, the blond was prepared to pull out a Kawarimi no Jutsu _(Body Replacement technique)_ when, to his shock, Pyrrha appeared in front of him in burst of speed, shield raised to take the hit.

To his further surprise not only was his red headed teammate able to take the brunt of the blow, but she quickly followed it up by stomping down on the head of Nora's hammer, keeping it and it's wielder pinned there. Continuing her assault, Pyrrha tossed her shield like a deadly frisbee with Ren as its intended target.

Deciding to ask his teammate just how in the hell she was keeping the no doubt physically stronger Nora and her hammer at bay after the battle, Naruto instead took advantage of the opening she had presented to him and with a twirl of his staff and a spin of his own to get some momentum, Naruto spun out from behind Pyrrha and slammed his shakujo into a still struggling Nora.

While strength wasn't exactly Naruto's forte, that didn't mean he was a slouch either. He was by no means anywhere near Tsunade or maybe even Nora's level of strength, but he could still pack a shallow when he needed to. Having near an ocean's worth of chakra to empower his strikes also helped.

Still Pyrrha and even Nora were a little surprised when the hammer wielding girl was not only hit with enough force to send her away from her weapon, but also send her flying through the air.

Ren had managed to dodge Pyrrha's thrown shield with relative ease, although to do so he had to sacrifice his ability to provide cover fire for Nora. Still he could resume doing so and possibly aid her when he landed on the floor in a few seconds. That plan was promptly thrown out the window when, with wide eyes, he saw Naruto smack Nora like a baseball and send her flying straight towards him.

Seeing as Naruto and Pyrrha had the better hand with Nora now without her weapon, Ren decided to toss his twin pistols to the side and catch his childhood friend in his arms.

Both Naruto and Pyrrha winced when Ren painfully collided with the ground with Nora in his arms. Thankfully he wouldn't suffer more than a bruise and some soreness thanks to his timely use of Aura and the fact that he had only been a few yards high by the time he had caught Nora.

A few minutes later a dazed Nora and a sore Ren were seated opposite to Naruto and Pyrrha in the stands of the training field, taking a much deserved break. While the two childhood friends looked a little worse for wear, they still looked ready for another round. Pyrrha meanwhile had only worked up a slight sweat while Naruto wasn't even winded.

Still he was enjoying the slight respite and decided it was a good time to question Pyrrha about how she had managed to keep Nora at bay with just her leg, "Hey Pyrrha. I know you're strong but how in the world were you able to keep Nora and her hammer down like that?"

Nora only turned to give her female teammate a curious look, just as curious as Naruto was, "Yeah! It was like Magnhild had grown like a thousand times heavier or something!" Seeing Naruto's questioning look, Nora answered, "Magnhild is the name of my hammer!"

Turning to Ren with the same look, the raven haired teen answered, "My weapons are named Storm Flower."

Satisfied Naruto and the rest of team NNPR turned their gazes back to Pyrrha. A little embarrassed at their intense looks the red head saw no harm in revealing her secret to her teammates, "I used my Semblance. It allows me to control anything metal so all I had to do was magnetize Nora's hammer and have it be pulled towards the ground."

Naruto whistled in appreciation of such a powerful Semblance. In a world where near everything used metal and where almost every opponents weapon was also made of the metallic material, such an ability could be devastating. Seeing as how, instead of relying heavily on it, Pyrrha used it only to help her when she needed it Naruto grew even more respect for his red headed teammate as a fighter.

Most Shinobi, hell most warriors in general, would far too often rely on a skill or ability that made them unique. Back in the Elemental Countries the most prominent people like this were those who had a Kekkai Genkai _(Bloodline Limit)_. Sure having something like the Sharingan _(Copy Wheel Eye)_, the Kekkai Genkai of the Uchiha clan, which allowed the user to predict an opponent's movements, entrance them with a single moment of eye contact, or even copy their own moves after only seeing it once was a great tool, but take it away and most Uchiha were practically useless.

Pyrrha on the other hand knew very well how to fight without her Semblance which made her all the more deadly when she did decide to use it.

Naruto was taken from his thoughts though when Pyrrha turned the tables on him and asked her question that had been bugging her and a lot of other people as well.

"By the way Naruto, how is it that you're able to pull your weapon out of plain scroll?"

Sheepishly chuckling Naruto knew he was even for a long chat. Then again all he had to do was pass off it off as a sort of byproduct of his Semblance...right?

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><p>(1) Baklava is a traditional pie kind of Greek food...according to Google. I figured with Pyrrha being based off of Achilles her favorite food should be Greek in nature.<p>

**AN: **I apologize for the rather rough start with the chapter. Literally had to force myself to put down Pokemon Omega Ruby to type this chapter out. Luckily after a break of reading some fanfics and what not I felt a little more inspired and got into a groove of writing.

Well this week is somewhat hectic for me and my pseudo beta reader so you'll have to forgive me for any grammar slip ups and such. I tried my best to pick the big ones out with a cursory reading.

Just a quick question for the readers! After re-watching both Volumes 1 and 2 and checking the wiki, I realized that neither Nora nor Ren had been given a proper Semblance. We've seen Ren use his Aura, but we still haven't seen him or Nora specifically use their Semblance.

As such here's the deal. I can either a) pass it off until Monty decides to grace us with such knowledge or b) using who they're based off of, come up with my own Semblance for them.

Seeing as how Nora is based on Thor, her's would have something to do with either lightning/thunder or strength, seeing as Thor's other powers in Norse mythology are a little bit of a stretch, especially when concerned with Mjolnir.

With Ren being based on Hua Mulan I'm at a bit of a loss with what to do with his Semblance seeing how the only Mulan story I'm familiar with is the Disney version. Maybe I'll find something interesting in the original story, who knows.

Review or pm with what you guys think!

Other than that hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Questions, concerns, or comments? Leave a review. Burning question you want answered ASAP? Shoot me a pm.

Until the next chapter!

Peace

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...

Wait for it

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OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTT


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **I'm back biznitches! If you're wondering where I've been for the past...month or so let me just say college finals are a bitch. That and having to be a responsible adult and get a job now that I'm twenty was a thing. Thanks to the steady flow of income though I was able to finally buy a Wii U with which I got Bayonetta 2. Suffice it to say I've been swamped these past few weeks

All that said I'm done with my semester and only have to worry about work so I am once again free to resume my writings...on my days off...when I can...

In RWBY news HOLY FUCK THE VOLUME 2 SOUNDTRACK. SO. FUCKING. GOOD. Not a fan of the slower songs, but Die, Sacrifice, Caffeine, Shine, and the Time To Say Goodbye remix are just fan-fucking-tastic. I've been setting time aside each day to just try and figure out the guitar parts to the songs and they're so much fun to noodle over.

In story related news: the only critique I got was from my fellow Naruto x RWBY author, SilverFoxSage which dealt with the whole Naruto and Weiss scene. Personally I feel it didn't divulge all that much and Naruto as a character was always the first to shoot his mouth off. He's also never been one to brood over shit, even his fucked up childhood and what not. As for not referring to Pyrrha's weapons, I was doing it on purpose. She hadn't yet said the names of her weapon and so I figured it'd only make sense to wait until she did, like how I did with Nora and Ren. The same will go for every character really.

I will say this about the Naruto Weiss scene though, it was an odd thing to write and possibly one of my most rewritten. The end product that you all read was far and away from what I had originally started out with.

Nonetheless thanks for the review and it was pretty cool to see the author who piqued my interest in the Naruto x RWBY idea take an interest in my story.

As for Nora and Ren's semblance, the general thought seems to be that Nora gets super strength and Ren gets superior control over his Aura. I really don't want to wait for Monty to reveal the canon for it, so if it ends up contradicting with the RWBY canon...fuck it its fanfiction haha.

Enough of my rambling. I know (from all the pms) you guys have been waiting for this so here's the latest chapter!

Curtains up bitches!

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><p><em>(Last chapter!)<em>

_"By the way Naruto, how is it that you're able to pull your weapon out of a plain scroll?"_

_Sheepishly chuckling Naruto knew he was in for a long chat. Then again all he had to do was pass it off as a sort of by product of his "Semblance"...right?_

* * *

><p><em>(This chapter!)<em>

"Well that has to do with my Semblance actually," Naruto replied with his goofy grin, attempting to brush of his teammate's inquisitive states.

Still not satisfied with the vague answer given, Pyrrha decided to push the issue, "I remember you mentioning your Semblance in the forest. You also said that your Semblance was what let you shoot out that fireball. What kind of Semblance do you have that it lets you do all of that?"

Ren and Nora decided to stay quiet, just as curious as Pyrrha was to find out what exactly their leader's unique Semblance was. After all a Semblance that let you shoot fireballs out of your mouth and store a weapon in a simple scroll was just unheard of.

Naruto's nervously rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled, "Well my Semblance is actually pretty simple, it pretty much lets me control energy in its purest form."

The silent raven haired teen of the group was surprisingly the one to speak up, "That sounds like my Semblance. Mine lets me have almost perfect control over my Aura."

The blond team captain shook his head as he leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, "No mine goes a step further than that and let's me mold my Aura in anyway I want. From there I can either use it in my body or let it out in elemental attacks or whatever else I want it to do."

While it seemed like Naruto was perfectly calm explaining/lying to his teammates, inwardly he was sweating up a storm, _'Where the hell is Kurama when I need him the most?'_

* * *

><p>While Naruto was being questioned by his curious teammates, a certain Kitsune was partaking in one of his favorite pastimes, that of course being napping. Naruto was a big boy and could take care of himself, and the thousands of years old chakra construct was sure that his blond Jinchuuriki could handle anything this new world could throw at him. Besides that, if a situation did arise in which Naruto needed him, Kurama could easily teleport to his container thanks to their connection.<p>

With that in mind Kurama had decided to stay in the room Naruto shared with his new teammates and snooze the day away. Just because the blond had to suffer through those boring lessons didn't mean he, the mightiest of the Bijuu, had to. Such tasks were below a being of his stature and prestige after all.

However the universe seemed to take as much joy in torturing the fox as it did his blond container.

"FOXY!"

The door to team NNPR's room was violently thrown open with enough force to crack the wall it slammed into. With an irritated scowl spreading across his furry face, Kurama saw the ones who had the audacity to interrupt his precious napping.

Standing proudly in the doorway with fists on hips was the blonde bombshell Yang, obviously the one who had opened the door in such a harsh manner. Peeking out from behind the statuesque team member of RWBY was the youngest member and said team's leader, Ruby.

"Yang, I don't think Naruto and his team would appreciate having their door torn off its hinges," the red themed teen said.

Poking her head over Yang's shoulder, Blake spoke in her usual monotone, "I'd normally agree but remember this is Naruto and Nora we're talking about."

The three were pushed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs as Weiss shoved her way into the doorway with her arms crossed and her signature holier than thou look on her face.

"I still don't get why you two think that idiot will be able to help us."

As the rest of team RWBY stood to their feet and straightened out their clothes, they all took notice of a very irritated looking fox kit glaring at them almost like it was barely restraining itself from killing them...which wasn't too far off from the truth, not that they knew that.

_'Can't. Kill. Vixens. Can't. Kill. Vixens,' _was the mantra Kurama was repeating in his head. The only one allowed to interrupt his naps without good reason was Naruto and even then the blond knew the Kitsune would eventually get him back for it.

"Hey, that's Naruto's pe-," Ruby took note of the fox's growling growing even louder, daring her to call it a pet, "umm...I mean partner, Kurama."

Normally Yang would have already been trying to smother the poor fox to death, but the look it was currently sending towards her and the others said that probably wasn't a good idea, lest she want to test just how strong the small fox really was.

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the fox and spoke aloud, "That's odd. Isn't he usually with Naruto?"

Blake, as usual, was the voice of reason, "He probably left him here to rest or something, after all it's not like any of our classes call for Naruto needing his help."

Being either the bravest, or dumbest, it was up to debate really, Ruby approached the still less than happy looking fox. At the edge of what she assumed to be Naruto's bed, Ruby crouched and looked the fox straight in the eye, "Do you know where we can find Naruto?"

Kurama raised an eyebrow and lost his angry visage as he surveyed the young female before him, _'Gotta hand it to her, she's almost as stupidly brave as the kit. Of course he confronted me when I was still several stories tall, but still her other teammates are wary of me even in this form.'_

With a huff Kurama turned and hopped down off of Naruto's bed before he padded his way over to where Naruto kept his notes and such. Most of them were in their native language or seal arrays and such so no one besides Naruto, himself, and possibly the cat of team RWBY could decipher them. Still Naruto was nothing if not a properly paranoid Shinobi and so most of the notes were of things that were all relatively harmless. The more dangerous seals and other items were kept either on Naruto or locked behind seals that required the blond's blood and chakra to open.

The four teen girls stared in curiosity as they witnessed arguably one of the smartest animals they had ever seen rummage through piles of paper with an almost bored look. They were even more curious when the fox seemed to find what it was looking for, gently placing a particular piece of paper in its jaws before jumping back up on the bed where Ruby sat. Padding its way to the young girl in red, Kurama placed the piece of paper on Ruby's lap before resuming his spot on a pillow and attempting to finish his nap.

Kurama was pleasantly surprised though when Ruby gently patted his head, "Thanks Kurama."

The Kyuubi stared at what he considered to be a rather strange girl before shrugging and curling up into a ball again.

_'Kit always attracts the strange ones. Seems that old proverb is as true as ever, 'birds of a feather flock together'...mmmmm...bird sounds pretty good.'_

Ruby joined the rest of her team with paper in hand and was greeted by her grinning sister, "So what's it say little sis?"

Looking at the paper Ruby spoke, "Looks like it's a receipt or something."

Snatching the paper from a protesting Ruby, Weiss scanned it before shrugging, "It's a ticket from the school for a reserved time slot for one of the practice arenas the school has."

"To the practice arenas!" Yang shouted as she performed a rather well executed about face and made to speed off in search of her fellow blonde.

Blake casually grabbed the back of Yang's jacket collar, stopping the hyperactive girl in her steps, "Beacon has quite a few arenas spread out around the campus and we don't know which one Naruto and his team are in. I don't care to spend the better part of my day searching for it either."

Nonplussed by her raven haired teammate's actions, Yang just turned to Weiss and pointed a finger at the Schnee heiress, "Weiss! Hit me with the arena number!"

Rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration Weiss nonetheless read through the paper before shaking her head, "Doesn't say for which arena this is."

Kurama's ears twitched as he listened in on team RWBY attempting to hash out a plan to find Naruto before day's end. An idea popped into his head as he continued to listen. Soon that idea became something that had the fox grinning from ear to ear as his eyes glinted mischievously.

Coming out of his attempted nap the strongest of the Bijuu casually padded to the end of the bed before making a leap and landing softly on Ruby's shoulder, surprising the other members of the team. As far as they knew Naruto was the only one the fox would allow to carry him or even liked to be around.

Using his tail Kurama pointed at the piece of paper he had previously handed to Ruby, then back to himself.

The gesture's meaning wasn't lost on the members of team RWBY. Of course Kurama was more than capable of human speech, even in this form. He is the fearsome and insanely powerful Kyuubi after all. But no one besides his container knew that, and as far as he and said blond Uzumaki were concerned, they were the only ones who needed to know.

"Are we really gonna let a fox be our GPS system?" Weiss asked incredulously. To most normal people the idea of letting a fox of all things, no matter how intelligent it seemed, lead them was a rather ridiculous idea.

Of course the word normal wasn't exactly in Ruby or Yang's vocabulary and Blake didn't seem too bothered by the idea either.

Throwing her hands up in frustration Weiss conceded to letting Kurama lead them as their pseudo navigator. As team RWBY cheered they missed the mischievous smirk that spread across Kurama's snout.

_'No one interrupts one of my naps and gets away with it.'_

* * *

><p>"So by molding your Aura in certain areas of your body or molding it in a specific way you can do pretty much anything thanks to your Semblance?" Pyrrha inquired.<p>

Shrugging casually, Naruto responded, "Yeah that about sums it up."

"Wait but how does that explain the whole scroll thingy? Is it like a magic trick? Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" Nora paused as a look of realization dawned on her face, "that's it isn't it!? You're a magician!"

Even Naruto found himself sweat dropping at the oddness that had just come out of his childish teammate's mouth. He had heard and seen some weird stuff, a good chunk of which was thanks to the Snake Mistress of Konoha, but Nora was quickly climbing his list of odd people.

"Uh...no Nora...I'm not a magician…"

The orange haired hammer wielder pouted impudently like a child who had been told she couldn't get candy or a toy from the store while they shopped.

Getting over the giggles that had come due to her teammate's previous statement and the mental picture of Naruto in a top hat, Pyrrha added, "Nora is right though, how does your Semblance let you do that?"

Scratching his head Naruto decided that he could trust his team with at least a half lie, "Well actually my Semblance only plays a small part in that. See back in my village we were taught from a young age how to use our Aura and then how to better control it before we were ever taught how to use our Semblance. Because of that some people were able to figure out how to use that control to use our Aura in a different way. Those ways soon branched out and became what we called Ninshu or the Shinobi Sect. What I do with scrolls is a branch of Ninshu called Fuinjutsu or Sealing Techniques. The closest thing I can compare it to is Weiss and her glyphs, but even then that is only a small part of what Fuinjutsu can do."

The intrigue and awe the other members of team NNPR felt as Naruto divulged what could possibly be considered village secrets was clearly visible on each of their faces. Even Nora who could barely sit still for two seconds looked to be enraptured by her blond captain and his lecture.

Wanting to hear even more the red head of the team voiced her curiosity, "What do you mean? What else could this fun...foo...fuin?" Taking note of Naruto's nod at her proper pronunciation of the foreign word Pyrrha continued, "What else can it do?"

The blond Uzumaki let out a sigh as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling that stretched above him, "Fuinjutsu is actually unique, because unlike the other branches of Ninshu that have some sort of set of requirements, anyone can learn Fuinjutsu. It just takes patience, perfect handwriting, and imagination. Because of this Fuinjutsu is both the most accessible and most varied and powerful branch of Ninshu. A master of Fuinjutsu could do anything from simply sealing away a weapon to distorting time and space itself. The possibilities are pretty much endless."

Pyrrha couldn't help herself and blurted out the first thought that had popped into her mind, "Are you a master?"

Naruto laughed, not only at Pyrrha's curiosity, but also at the dumbfounded looks that both Nora and even the normally stoic Ren wore.

"Sadly no. I never got to fully finish my apprenticeship, but I am only about two levels away from being able to call myself a master."

Getting up and stretching Naruto grinned at his teammates, "So I think we've wasted enough time sitting around. One more little spar and we call it a day?"

Nora was the first to her feet, having leapt up into the air and cheered, "Yay!"

Ren was the opposite to his friend and calmly rose, showing all of the grace he possibly could in such a simple action. Gathering his twin pistols that Naruto now knew were called Stormflower, the calm raven haired teen nodded at his fellow male teammate.

Pyrrha gathered her own weapons and strapped her shield on to her back before offering Naruto a smile and confident nod.

Feeling a little more comfortable around his team after his explanation on one of his specialties, Naruto decided to show off a little bit by performing a perfect backflip over the railing of the stands, landing perfectly on his feet. Nora, the ever hyper teen she was, happily followed suit by leaping over the railing, Magnahild sitting on her shoulder and a cry of excitement escaping her lips.

Seeing the smiles and laughs that Naruto and Nora were having down below, Pyrhha decided to join in on the little bit of fun by performing a single handed handstand on the railing, tilting her body in such a way that soon after she was gracefully falling to the ground below, feet first.

With her ponytail fluttering in the wind and spear in hand, Pyrrha managed to look simultaneously beautiful and deadly, a thought that had Naruto blushing. As the red headed beauty landed in a crouch, both fists on the ground and her head held down, it gave Pyrrha the look of not a teen girl still training but of a full fledged warrior ready for battle.

While Pyhrra rose to her feet, Ren leapt down to meet with his teammates in a much more subdued manner, merely vaulting over the railing of the stands and landing without a sound.

Nodding at the raven haired teen, Naruto addressed his fellow teammates, "Well I guess the only combination left for us to try out is me and Nora against you two."

While Naruto smirked at being paired up with his fellow hyperactive team member, both Ren and Pyrrha looked noticeably put out by the inevitable matchup.

Honestly the blond couldn't blame them. Nothing against Pyrrha and Ren as warriors, but them winning was just not all that likely. Both Nora and Naruto operated on the same principal and style of fighting - go in and fuck shit up. Naruto had added more to his repertoire and was much more careful with his planning and such since Kurama had been helping to train him, but he was still very much so a frontlines heavy hitter, even without the use of his signature jutsu. Nora was much the same, admittedly with a much smaller arsenal.

The two had much more stamina than most and were also extremely unpredictable. Ren and Pyrrha relied too heavily on a more rigid style of fighting than Nora and Naruto, and that would be a detriment to them.

Still Naruto knew that neither Ren or Pyrrha would simply give up. No the two were going to try and make their hyperactive teammates work for their victory.

Scratching his head, Naruto raised a question that had been bugging him for awhile, "Hey Pyrrha!"

The redhead in question turned to silently acknowledge her captain's call.

"I know Ren and Nora's weapon names, but what's yours?"

Smiling at what she knew to be her blond captain's curious face, marked by Naruto squinting his eyes and crossing his arms, Pyrrha answered, "My shield is named Akoúo and my main weapon is Miló."

Nodding his head and with his curiosity satiated, Naruto made to make his way to where Nora was already getting ready for the spar. However Pyrrha decided to ask a question of her own, "What about your weapon Naruto?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and stared at his staff for a scant few seconds, seemingly lost in his own memories, before snapping out of it and twirling the shakujo casually as he answered, "Hi no Ishi."

Knowing that names played a significant role in Naruto's home, Pyrrha was curious to know the meaning of the staff's name and voiced as much.

The blond gave one last reminiscent smile at his weapon before answering, "It means 'The Will of Fire'."

Still curious as to the significance of such a name and why Naruto seemed so attached to it, Pyrrha decided to wait until she could get Naruto alone, knowing how secretive the blond could be.

Besides that, it looked like Nora was growing even more impatient by the second, noted by her increased fidgeting. An impatient Nora was a hilariously dangerous Nora.

Finally, as each pair stared the other down from opposite sides of the field, the air of battle began to permeate the air. Of course the feel of it was far different from the battles Naruto had gone through. Those battles where each side wagered not money or an imaginary point, but instead bet their very lives, pride, and convictions.

This was not even comparable. Sure the other members of team NNPR had no doubt seen death already, living in a world where humans were forced into settlements where the fear of death by the creatures of Grimm were very much so a reality.

But there was a key difference. When it came down to it, it was easy for the people of Remnant to peg the Grimm as naught, but mindless beasts of murder, which wasn't too far from the truth. As such killing them was simply a task, like hunting for food.

Naruto however was different. He had seen and lived through war. He knew the difference in battle when your enemy was not some beast or some other quarry, but a human, a human with emotions, feelings, dreams, and aspirations just like you.

This spar was not even close to that feeling of knowing that with the slightest misstep your very existence would cease to be.

And for that Naruto smiled. As he felt his chakra begin to course through his body in that familiar warmth, as he heard Nora yell in excitement, Naruto smiled.

_'Maybe coming here wasn't a bad thing after all.'_

Sharing a look with Nora, Naruto's smile went from being just that, a simple smile, and instead became the cocky grin he was known for back in his youth.

"Let's do this -ttebayo!"

* * *

><p>All of team NNPR sighed in relief as they turned down the hallway that housed their room, all members - even the stamina monster Naruto - were tired and bruised all over and could not wait to embrace the soft comfort of their beds.<p>

Of course their relief became raised eyebrows as they entered the room and saw that the wall behind the door bore slight cracks in the dry wall as if someone had slammed the door open in a fit of fury.

Shrugging off the oddity of the cracked wall, the four teens decided that their fatigue and need for a shower far outweighed any curiosity they held about said mystery.

Despite it being just a few minutes into sundown, the team had managed to cram as much as they could into the the two hour slot that Naruto had reserved for them. Thanks to the intense pace Naruto had set for them, the team was able to get a better handle on how to not only work as a group of four, but also pairs.

The pairing of Nora and Nauto, aptly nicknamed Disaster, was obviously the frontlines duo responsible for either taking out numerous enemies or providing a distraction for the backup pair of Pyrrha and Ren which was named Rose.

What surprised the rest of team NNPR was how devastating of a combo Ren and Naruto made. The two male teens could work perfectly as a stealth unit, what with Naruto's shinobi training and Ren's own grace and agility, or a quick strike unit capable of unleashing untold amounts of destruction before disappearing. Thanks to this the duo were nicknamed Bolt Flower.

The two females of NNPR were the backup to Bolt Flower and worked as a solid all around unit by themselves, capable of either fighting on the frontlines or providing covering fire. That in mind, the two girls had decided to name their formation simply, Queen.

Of course all of the battle strategy that they had spent the past two hours going over was the furthest thing from any of the teen's mind instead being replaced by thoughts of food, showers, and sleep.

As an unspoken agreement, Naruto, Ren, and Nora collapsed onto their beds while Pyrrha took the first shower.

As the sounds of the shower being turned on became the only background noise in the room, Nora having already decided to take a nap and Ren quietly being...Ren, Naruto rolled over and sat up, scratching his head as he realized that a certain Kitsune was oddly absent.

The blond Uzumaki wasn't particularly worried about Kurama himself, being more concerned for anybody with the unfortunate luck of being stuck with the troublesome Bijuu _(Tailed Beast)_. After having spent the literal entirety of his seventeen years of life with the fox, Naruto knew that wherever the Kitsune was, trouble was not too far off, if the sentient chakra construct was already causing it.

Shrugging it off Naruto decided that food would be a good idea to have when his team was showered and ready to either finish whatever homework they had or sleep like he planned.

That in mind the blond rolled off his bed and decided to venture off to the cafeteria to see what was available. Hopefully Remnant's advanced technology extended into the food area as well and he could just simply grab his teammate's favorite foods without any fuss. Having ramen would just be a huge plus really.

Much to the blond's relief the cafeteria was just as technologically advanced as every other area of Beacon which meant not only could he get his teammate's favorite food, but he could also indulge himself in the sweet sweet food of the gods, ramen.

But now came the had part, carrying all the food. Normally the solution to such a situation would be easily solved by the quick use of a jutsu that he had abused as a preteen. However seeing two of the same people walking the halls would be weird and would raise questions Naruto didn't want to answer.

If Naruto were in the right state of mind he would realize that he had plenty of other jutsu to help to keep his identity as a shinobi hidden. However said blond was far from the right state of mind. Tired, hungry, and with the worry that his precious ramen was getting colder with each passing second, Naruto's higher thinking faculties were otherwise preoccupied.

None of the other students who occupied the cafeteria thought to mention to the blond staring heatedly at the plates of food in front of him that there was an even simpler solution to his conundrum in the form of the food carts that sat not feet away. Really though it wasn't their fault as said students really had no clue as to what Naruto's problem even was in the first place and instead just passed him off as another one of the many oddballs who called Beacon home.

The importance of this was to not only illustrate the level of Naruto's fatigue and love of ramen, but to also allow for the perfect timing of a certain Kitsune to come bursting through the doors of the cafeteria with a less than happy looking team RWBY hot on his tail.

Each of the girls had leaves and twigs littering their hair with small tears and cuts on their clothing. All in all it looked like they had gotten into a fight with a tree and lost.

Even still it wasn't the commotion that was caused by Kurama and team RWBY's less than quiet entrance that snapped Naruto out of his almost meditative state of mind, but the feeling of a familiar weight settling around his shoulders.

Coming back to the waking world, Naruto turned his head and saw Kurama had taken his usual perch on the blond's shoulders and was grinning like he had just finished eating the tastiest rabbit ever.

Naruto's attention was finally drawn to the four disheveled and angry females standing behind him. Even in his current state of mind, it was ridiculously easy for the Uzumaki to connect the dots, leading to him giving Kurama a deadpan stare.

"Do I need to put you back in the cage?"

Team RWBY wondered what a simple cage would do to a less than normal fox, but if the fearful look that crossed the Kitsune's face was anything to by then said punishment was probably the worst thing that the troublesome fox could experience. Of course while the girls thought Naruto meant a normal cage, Kurama knew full well that his container was talking about putting his furry ass back inside the seal that had kept him behind bars for sixteen years.

Not only was the space behind said bars small, but Naruto's mindscape hadn't changed in the slightest and was still the dimly lit, damp sewer it had always been. Admittedly it was far better than the seal his previous container, Naruto's own mother, had used, Kurama had very much so grown used to having a vast majority of his freedom back. The past year was the first in near a hundred years that the fox was able to freely roam and stretch.

He had been stuck inside his first Jinchuuriki, Mito Uzumaki, for close to a hundred years where said Uzumaki had kept him immobile with the use of seals. That wasn't so bad, but she didn't even let him scratch any itches that popped up and that shit is not fun.

Then there was Naruto's mother, Kushina, who had kept him chained to a massive fucking slab of rock with her chakra chains. Not only was he still unable to scratch any itches, she had the nerve to crucify him, pinning his limbs and tails down to the slab and there he had stayed for almost twenty years.

While severely pissed when he found himself sealed into yet another Uzumaki, Kurama was grateful that at least Naruto's seal let him scratch any itches he had and didn't involve having sharp pointing things stabbed into his body.

But Kurama was nothing if not vain and as such he took pride in his lustrous fur. The moisture in the sewer that was Naruto's mind was hell on his fur and it had taken months to remedy the damage done to it.

There was no way in hell Kurama was voluntarily going back in that cramped hellhole.

Naruto knew all of this and enjoyed using the threat of the seal on the normally high and mighty Kitsune.

However team RWBY had gone through things they didn't want to discuss in pursuit of the fox and so were not satisfied with just scaring Kurama.

Stalking over to her fellow blond, Yang invaded Naruto's personal space bubble and vehemently spoke, "Foxy, if you know what's good for you you'll hand over that evil ball of fur. Right. Now."

Naruto looked between the angry visage of Yang and Kurama trying to be as cute as was possible and weighed his options. On one hand Kurama was an important part of his life and had grown to become something of a close friend within the past year or so. On the other hand Yang was a girl he had known for only a few days. However if there was one thing Naruto had learned in his seventeen years of life it was this; when a girl is angry and you have a way to make her happy or appease that anger, you better damn well do it if you want to live.

Shrugging Naruto spoke, "Sorry buddy, Yang scares me more than you do."

Grabbing Kurama by the scruff of his neck, Naruto tossed the crying fox to a maliciously grinning Ruby and Weiss. Yang's once angry face became her usual cheeky grin and she addressed Naruto, "Aww, you know just what to say to a girl."

The buxom blonde offered Naruto a flirtatious wink before walking off to join the rest of her team in exacting revenge.

Naruto offered a quick prayer to Kami, asking that Kurama retain his sanity and the will power to survive the wrath of four angry teen females.

The blond male was surprised when he turned around to see Pyrrha standing just behind him with a curious look on her face. No doubt she had just seen the last of the exchange between Naruto and team RWBY and was wondering what had happened to lead up to the odd scene she had walked in on.

Naruto just shook his head and patted the red head on her shoulder, "It's best if you don't know."

That only raised more questions in Pyrrha's mind, but looking at the way the normally stoic Blake was grinning like the cat who had caught the canary as she and the others left, the deadly beauty of team NNPR agreed that maybe it was best she didn't know.

Switching topics, Naruto decided to ask the question of why Pyrrha was in the cafeteria as well.

The red head smiled and replied, "Well Ren said you had come to get us some food, but that was a half hour ago so I figured you might need some help carrying up all the food."

Naruto chuckled nervously only now realizing how long he had been standing there "concentrating".

"Whoops?"

Pyrhha giggled at her friend and captain before gesturing at the carts that sat in the corner, "It's fine, but let's grab a cart and head up to the room. I don't think Nora can go any longer without her pancakes."

Knowing that denying Nora her pancakes was like denying him his ramen, Naruto agreed and grabbed a cart before helping Pyrrha to pile the food on top of it.

As the two teens made their way back to their room, Pyrrha decided to sate her curiosity over Naruto and his weapon.

"Hey Naruto?"

Hearing his name, the blond turned and acknowledged Pyrrha with a nod, wondering what she was going to ask him now. Part of him already knew she was going to ask him some question that had to due with his past or something with how frequently they had those kind of conversations.

It wasn't a bad thing really and they often talked about other random things on the way to class or during their down time, but anytime Pyrrha saw him fight or he vaguely mentioned something about his home, the red head would eventually come to him with questions.

Not that he minded at all. It felt good to talk about Konoha and his friends with someone who was genuinely interested in him and what he had to say.

"Well I know you said that names meant a lot back in your home village so I was wondering why you named your weapon The Will of Fire."

Naruto smiled as he almost immediately lost himself in memories at hearing the phrase that had shaped and given birth to his childhood dream, a dream he had before he even truly understood what it meant.

"In my home village we had this...philosophy that each of our warriors fought and died for, the belief that their sacrifices were not in vain. Our leader, the Hokage, was supposed to be the epitome of this, they were to see the entire village as one big family - their family. Growing up an oprhan, well the one thing I always wanted was a family and what better family could you have than your entire home village?"

Pyrrha couldn't help, but to grow even more respect for Naruto. He had aspired to become the leader of his home, not out of an attempt for more power or authority, but because he wanted to have a family, he wanted to have a reason to fight. Of course it was hard to miss the almost factual manner in which Naruto admitted to his having grown up an oprhanIt seemed that because of this Will of Fire, Naruto understood what it meant to be a great and compassionate leader.

She was surprised though when Naruto continued further, delving deeper into his past.

"But my godfather taught me a different part to the Will of Fire. He believed that not only could it make Konoha a safe and amazing place for all people, but that by spreading the Will of Fire, through loving each other, peace would be possible."

It was this statement that made Pyrrha pause in her steps, shocked at not just what her blond friend said, but also the conviction with which he said it. Turning to look at Naruto, Pyrhha was awed by not only the sheer belief Naruto put into those words, but also at her own thoughts that maybe this young man - who was brash, unpredictable, and most often a goofball - could pull it off.

Peace was something that almost all Hunters and Huntresses strode for, in some small capacity, whether that peace be peace with one's self or with those around you. Pyrhha was no different. However it was clear that Naruto wasn't aiming for something like that. No he was aiming for something on a much larger scale.

And some small part of her actually believed Naruto was fully capable of achieving that.

Coming back to her senses, Pyrrha realized that they had managed to make it back to their room without anything odd occuring.

She giggled though when she saw how childishly excited Naruto looked as he hurriedly opened the door and plopped himself down with his several bowls of ramen. It was amazing how quickly the blond could go from speaking with the charisma and passion of a leader who fully believed in their cause to being the goofball he usually was.

Grabbing her own plate of food, Pyrrha joined the rest of her team as they chatted, a smile on her face as she allowed her mind to have one last thought on the topic, _'And I wouldn't want it any other way.'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So...hey...yea...been awhile huh? One could say its been a year since my last update...I'm sorry...

Ok so I admit that this chapter is far from my usual. Think of it as my way of saying yes both I and this fic are still alive.

On that note I will say that at the time of this being uploaded I'm already beginnning work on the next chapter which I promise will be a return to the usual. I already have some future events planned and I am super hyped to return to writing this story after such a long break.

For those who are curious where I dissapeared to, retail during the christmas/new years season is fucking bonkers. Also Bayonetta (1 and 2) is addictive as hell. Haven't had so much fun with a game in a long while and I'm glad I picked Bayonetta as my way to get back into console gaming.

Enough of that though. Next chapter will be longer, more action packed, and just better - I promise! Also it won't take me like 2 months to finish it! I am now getting into the habit of setting aside a few hours a day to actually work on just writing so hopefully that will make you guys happy.

Happy late Christmas or whatever the fuck yall celebrate and a happy new years as well. Hope you guys had a great one.

Until the next chapter!

PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE

out


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **Told you guys that this chapter would be out much faster!

I've not much else to say really other than it was great to see that there was still a lot of interest in the story. Was also pretty surprised to see the review count climb by like 40 or so just from a, in my opinion, rather lack luster chapter. The point was raised that its good to have a break in all the action and drama so maybe I'll use those breaks to either add in some comedy like I did with last chapter.

In that sense you guys can expect the occasional sort of omake chapter every now and again.

Let's get it rolling!

* * *

><p>When Naruto had first come to Remnant he had no idea that there would be an almost entirely different form of human life that coexisted alongside the "normal" humans. Said race of humans were called Faunus. For the most part these Faunus looked and functioned like any other human, except the fact that they bore animalistic features. These features ranged from being a simple pair of cat ears to having the claws, eyes, and tail of a dog.<p>

However the differences between human and Faunus were not merely cosmetic. Faunus exhibited traits similar to the animal they looked like. Those with canine features had a sharper sense of smell and hearing while those of the feline family had enhanced eye sight and agility.

Coming from the Elemental Countries where there were families of people who could use their own bones as weapons, expand any portion of their body at will, or had a colony of bugs literally living inside of them - well needless to say Naruto wasn't impressed.

Naruto himself bore some animalistic features due to being in the womb of his mother while she housed the soul of Kurama and then having said Bijuu _(Tailed Beast) _trapped inside his own body. Of course his features were hardly noticeable with the whisker marks that marred his cheeks being the only immediately visible difference.

It was when Naruto channeled Kurama's chakra that the features became more noticeable. With the influence of the Kitsune's unique energy flowing through him Naruto's normally blue eyes would become a bloody crimson with his pupils becoming slits like that of a fox's. His nails would sharpen and grow in length, becoming knife like claws. To top it all off the whisker marks on his cheeks would thicken and become even more noticeable.

Being the container for a Bijuu marked Naruto as a Jinchuuriki _(Power of the Human Sacrifice)_ and to some this meant he wasn't exactly human himself. Years ago he had struggled with this concept, refusing to believe that he was different from the "normal" people. Of course in the shinobi world where walking on water and giving the laws of nature and psychics the finger was a daily occurrence, "normal" was a loose term.

Still the civilians of Konoha who had seen the fearsome and destructive power that was an angered Bijuu feared and hated Naruto, not being able to look past his title of Jinchuuriki to see the lonely orphan who only sought the love and warmth of family and friends.

Many lesser people would have crumbled under the weight of such emotions, but Naruto had only turned around and sought to make the world a better place, a place where no other person would have to go through the prejudice and hate that he had as a child.

As such it was no surprise that Naruto deeply sympathized with the Faunus of Remnant. They were like him. Treated harshly because of something they had no control over.

Normally Naruto was a fun loving person and very easy to get along with. There were few things that could truly anger him. The sight in front of him was one of those things.

A fellow first year student, a guy named Cardin from what he gathered from the whispers in the cafeteria, was publicly bullying and humiliating an older student. Simply because she was a Faunus.

Nothing angered the blond more than seeing someone pick on another simply because they looked different.

What only angered him more was seeing that nobody, not even a professor, was going to stop it.

He wasn't the only one though. The normally calm Pyrrha was tightly clutching her food tray while Nora was frowning and seemed to be debating on grabbing her hammer. Even the stoic Ren looked visibly angered by the scene.

Team RWBY was no better. Yang was clenching her fists tight enough that her knuckles were turning white and Ruby was glaring heatedly at Cardin. Weiss looked indifferent for the most part, but if one looked closely they could see her own abject disgust with the male. Blake was the most visibly angered. Her amber eyes had become slit and you could hear her almost hissing while her hair bow twitched in agitation.

As Cardin shoved the teen Faunus causing her to fall and spill her lunch, Naruto stood up, shocking those around him from their own thoughts. Before anyone from his team could stop him, the blond was gone in a blur of speed.

The next second he appeared and the series of events that followed shocked everyone watching. There Naruto was, suspended in mid air, his fist inches away from Cardin's face, while Cardin himself was being held with his hands behind his back.

The sharp sound of heels hitting the floor echoed throughout the cafeteria as Glynda Goodwitch stalked through the now silent building.

It was now clear to everyone what had happened. The female professor and Huntress had intervened at the perfect time and stopped the blond teen from giving Cardin what both teams NNPR and RWBY thought he deserved.

Naruto himself was angered deeply by the appearance of his fellow blond.

_'Tch, of course she _happens_ to intervene right when this teme was gonna get what he deserves.' _

"I hope you know that we do not condone fighting amongst students outside of the arena, Mr. Uzumaki," the buxom professor lectured as she stared straight into the angry eyes of the still suspended Naruto.

Still pissed at not only her choice of timing and words, but at Cardin as well, Naruto lashed out, "But you do condone bullying I take it? Cuz I didn't see you or any other professor here stop this jerk from attacking that girl who did nothing wrong."

Glynda almost visibly flinched at the retort, knowing that if she said the wrong thing, not only would her credibility take a hit, but so would Beacon's.

Adjusting her glasses Glynda continued in the same voice, "The situation would have been handled properly, and as such there was no need for you to intervene."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman before he scoffed and, shocking everyone - Glynda included -, flared his chakra quickly, breaking him of whatever the female professor had done to stop him.

Without even glancing back Naruto stormed out of the cafeteria, clearly less than happy about how the situation was "handled".

Shaking herself from her thoughts of the enigmatic blond, Glynda turned to Cardin and released him from her hold, "Mr. Winchester, you will be coming with me to see Mr. Ozpin to address your actions here and your subsequent punishment."

Outraged for being punished Cardin retorted with a yell, "Why!? I didn't do anything wrong! Besides what about that...idiot blond!? He should be in trouble too!"

Glynda was far from happy to have another student yell at her for the second time in a day and glared heatedly at the teen, scaring the piss out of him and a few others in the vicinity, "Do not question me Mr. Winchester. The situation with Mr. Uzumaki will be dealt with appropriately and you needn't concern yourself with it. Do I make myself clear?"

Clearly cowed by the angry visage of the imposing professor, Cardin only nodded his head.

As Cardin was led out of the cafeteria by the strict professor, the cafeteria exploded into gossip, the wheels of the rumor mill already turning.

Team NNPR and RWBY were worried for their friend, never having seen the blond teen display such anger, though none more so than Ruby and Pyrrha.

Naruto was kind enough to be Ruby's first friend at Beacon and had helped her on several occasions, most recently with the whole drama between her and Weiss. The heiress had confessed that it was the goofy blond who had really driven her to apologize to the younger girl, not only helping Ruby and Weiss, but team RWBY as a whole.

Pyrrha and Naruto had become close in the weeks since team NNPR had formed, something that was clear to anyone who saw the two together, which was quite often. The two were often seen sparring or training together, eating together, and generally looking like a couple, something the gossips of Beacon had taken great pleasure in talking about.

Clearly worried for their friend, the two teams rose and made to look for Naruto, but were stopped the voice of Blake.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Curious about what the brunette meant, Ruby turned and questioned the still seated member of team RWBY, "What do you mean Blake? You saw how angry Naruto looked!"

Arms crossed, Weiss decided to add in her own two cents, "I agree. We shouldn't just let Naruto leave like that."

The silence that ensued following Weiss' statement was near palpable.

Noticing that the group of people had gone completely silent and were all staring at her while Ruby poked her like she was some sort of freak, Weiss swatted Ruby away from her and called out, "What? Why are you all staring at me like that!?"

"Sorry, but we've never heard you call Naruto by his actual name," Ruby sheepishly responded.

The Schnee heiress' brow began to twitch in anger, "I'm not that mean am I!?"

Not wanting to anger the glyph user any more, the others instead opted to turn their attention back to Blake, also choosing to ignore Weiss' indignant cry as no one answered her question.

"What I mean is that, seeing how angry he is, Naruto probably wouldn't like having so many people crowd and interrogate him," Blake continued.

The others remained silent, none having any sort of rebuttal to the distant member of team RWBY. None of them had ever seen Naruto anywhere close to angry and had no idea how he would react to their presence. Weiss was the only one who had seen the blond team leader of NNPR in a mood other than goofy or serious, and that had been a more disappointed Naruto than an angry one.

Finally it was Pyrrha who broke the silence by rising from her seat and beginning to make her way to find Naruto, seeming to ignore Blake's words.

Surprisingly it was Ren who stopped the redhead from continuing her walk, putting his arm out in front of Pyrrha.

"I think we should listen to Blake and leave Naruto be, for now at least."

Pyrrha actually seemed lightly annoyed and it showed in her tone of voice, "I'm sorry but Blake doesn't know Naruto like I do and I think he needs his friends right now."

Lightly shoving her raven haired teammate's arm away from her, Pyrrha made to continue on her way to find her blond friend, but was again interrupted, this time by the ravenette of team RWBY, standing in her way.

"You're right, I don't know Naruto like you do, but I do know that look in his eyes. That wasn't the look of someone who wanted to talk or listen, that was the look of someone who needed to vent their frustrations in a physical manner."

For a moment neither side said anything, both young women staring into the eyes of the other, waiting to see who would concede first. Amber bore into emerald green with a silent and calm intensity, attempting to show its own unwillingness to back down in the contest of wills.

Many would have assumed that Pyrrha's concern for her friend would aid her and fuel her desire to prove Blake wrong, but it was in fact that same concern that caused her to not moments later, sigh and back down from the silent battle.

As much as she proclaimed to know Naruto better than Blake, the red head of team NNPR knew that it wasn't all that true. Sure she knew more of Naruto's past and ambitions than anyone else, as far as she knew, but at the end of the day she was just as clueless as to how Naruto functioned. She knew Naruto as the strong willed and goofy, yet deceivingly strong, warrior. As sad as it was for her to admit, Pyrrha knew only a fraction of Naruto Uzumaki, the person, something that made her all the more saddened.

She of all people knew what it was like when others judged you at face value, never bothering to get to know the person hidden behind the walls and baggage that came with life.

This was something she resolved to fix.

* * *

><p>When the sun set and the moon rose to take its perch in the sky, Beacon Academy truly came to life. Being so far from the main city of Vale and its lights, the stars were able to show their brilliant lights. Alongside the light of the moon, the stars bathed the buildings and grounds of Beacon in a dim white light, bringing an almost ethereal feel to the atmosphere of the academy.<p>

Many students and teachers would often venture out to any one of the higher structures of the academy and spend minutes or even hours simply enjoying the peace and tranquility that came with the blanket of Night. With the cool breeze blowing softly, many others chose to go for a jog or simply meditate, taking advantage of the crisp and clean air.

One particular blond Uzumaki found himself also partaking in Beacon's night life, laying on his back staring up at the twinkling stars, perched atop the second tallest structure situated not too far from the main lighthouse that was Beacon's namesake.

The silence that enveloped the teen and the snoozing fox on his chest was broken when Naruto spoke aloud, "Come to enjoy the view too?"

While most would think him odd for seemingly talking to himself, the figure that emerged from the shadows of the nearby stairwell entrance broke that notion. Garbed in her usual dark clothing, Blake showed no signs of being surprised that Naruto had known she was there. Still she was curious though.

"I'm surprised you knew I was there."

Still not tearing his gaze from the star filled sky, Naruto grinned and replied, "And I'm surprised at how quiet you could be with those heels on."

Blake huffed at the jab at her clothing choice causing Naruto to chuckle.

Shaking his head the blond rose to his feet, dusted his clothes off and moved Kurama to his usual spot around his neck.

"So what brings you out here at this time of night?" Naruto asked, donning his usual carefree grin.

Blake sauntered over to the edge of the building and situated herself on it, crossing her legs and leaning back as her gaze focused in on Naruto.

Naruto seemed to take it in stride and sat himself back down on the floor, meeting Blake's intense gaze with his own nonchalant one.

Neither side spoke for a moment before the raven haired female broke the little staring contest and turned her head to the side, casting her sights on the front of Beacon Academy.

"Everybody began to worry about where you had gone off to after what happened in the lunch hall. I was lucky enough to be the first to find you."

Naruto nodded his head, "So are you gonna bring them here or take me to them?"

The dark themed Huntress to be turned her eyes back on her blond companion before speaking, "I'll let them know where I found you and that you were alright as well...after I get some questions answered."

Deciding to have some fun with the stoic girl, Naruto grinned and spoke, "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

Blake's gaze went from curious to cold and deadly in the blink of an eye.

_'Does he know?'_

Deciding that it was better if she played it off, Blake continued, "Not many people would have interfered in that fight, let alone react in such an angry manner."

Still unfazed by the ravenette's cold and distant demeanor, Naruto shrugged, "I'm not 'many people'."

_'Though I could be thanks to a certain jutsu hehe,'_ the blond chuckled at his own in joke.

Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere by trying to dance around the question, Blake decided that the straightforward and blunt path would be the better option, "Why were you so angered by that fight? Being angry I could understand, but you looked downright furious, at not just that jerk Cardin, but at Professor Goodwitch as well."

Naruto sighed before turning to look up at the stars above, "One of the things I can't stand to see is someone picking on someone else, because of something they don't understand, for something that the victim can't control. That girl didn't choose to be born a Faunus. Cardin chose to be a jackass. As for why I was mad at Professor Goodwitch? Simple. She and any of the other professors could have easily put a stop to it and even stopped it from happening again in the future, but they chose not to simply because if they interfered it would have looked like they sided with the Faunus, and with the White Fang being the spokespeople for the Faunus, well it wouldn't have gone over well."

Blake couldn't help but to agree with Naruto. Even if the Faunus didn't want to be represented as a whole by the less than savory actions of the White Fang of recent years, there wasn't much they could do about it.

The White Fang had once been a group of Faunus who fought, peacefully, for equal rights for their fellow Faunus and fought to put an end to the years of discrimination against said group. There had been progress made, but it was slow going and many Faunus began to tire from the constant struggle to prove themselves. From there it all went out of control and in recent years, the White Fang had turned to violent acts of terrorism to get their point across.

Was it effective?

That was a question many asked, and none could give a solid answer to.

Because of how sensitive the topic was many people took a sort of neutral stance and chose to neither help nor hinder the discrimination and hate crimes against the Faunus.

Still what made Blake curious was Naruto's tone of voice and the words he used. He spoke like he knew personally what the Faunus were going through. It also said that he wasn't exactly a fan of the White Fang's decision to turn to fear tactics to achieve their goal.

"Why do you care so much? Usually the only people who are so invested are the Faunus themselves and you don't look any Faunus I've seen."

This was a question Naruto had prepared for the moment he had found out about Faunus and the discrimination against them. Seeing as how he was trying to keep the fact that he was a shinobi and Jinchuuriki from becoming public knowledge, he and Kurama decided to go with the perfect cover.

Naruto turned to Blake and stared her down. While normally this action wouldn't have been too surprising, what the young woman saw in Naruto's eyes caused her to gasp.

Gone were the normally bright blue eyes that usually greeted those who looked into the blond's eyes. Instead what stared into Blake's own amber eyes were twin pools of burning, vivid crimson with the slit pupils of a creature of the feline or fox family. The six marks that marred Naruto's tan cheeks were now thick lines that were visible even in the dim light of the moon and stars.

Then it hit Blake.

_'How has no one else figured it out? For goodness' sake, Yang's nickname for him is Foxy!'_

Still reeling from the small revelation, Blake only muttered a single sentence, "You're a Faunus."

Naruto grinned, showing off the sharpened canines that now poked out of his lips, "I'm surprised no else has called me on it yet."

Blake was then hit with another small epiphany. Faunus had senses far more similar to the animals they exhibited which meant that from the looks of Naruto had an enhanced sense of smell.

"You know don't you?"

Naruto shrugged casually, "What? About you being a cat Faunus? Yeah, Kurama was the one who picked up on it when we first met you. Said you reeked of cat."

The now revealed cat Faunus huffed at the jab at her smell. She was still a teen girl and very much so took pride in her appearance and being told that she "reeked of cat" was less than endearing.

Though she was distracted from the sort of insult when she noticed that Kurama had awoken and was staring at her with the same crimson eyes that were now in place of Naruto's usual sapphires.

The night seemed to be full of revelations for Blake as she now realized how connected Naruto and Kurama really were.

"You're a fox Faunus. That's how you can understand Kurama."

It wasn't unusual for Faunus to be able to communicate with the animal they were aligned to, but it wasn't exactly common either. It was usually a sign of a Faunus who was far more animalistic than they were human. Which didn't connect with Naruto. The only visible signs that showed he wasn't human were his whisker marks and eyes and it seemed like he could turn those features, sans the whiskers, on and off at will, something she had never even heard of.

Most Faunus who wanted to blend in with humans had to resort to various kinds of clothing or makeups to do so. If there was a method that Naruto could teach to others to hiding the more noticeable of features, then he would be like a prophet for many Faunus who simply wanted to live their lives without worrying about the harsh words and reactions to their being a Faunus.

"How can you hide your features like that?"

Naruto grinned and decided to give into his more foxy side, "What? Tired of the bow?"

Blake narrowed her eyes before asking another question, "How did you know?"

"Bows don't twitch, Blake," was Naruto's simple reply. Deciding to answer her other question, the blond Uzumaki continued, "As for hiding my features, I don't know. It's just something I'm able to do. Maybe it's cuz my mom was a Faunus and my dad was a human. Who knows."

There went her hopes of Naruto being able to teach such a valuable ability. Though the tid bit that Naruto was technically only a half Faunus was interesting. Couplings between Faunus and humans were almost non-existent and usually the children born of said relationships were human, never displaying any traits of their Faunus parent. Something about Faunus genes being recessive.

If what Naruto said was true then he was a unique case.

While Blake contemplated the information she had been given, Naruto gave a mental sigh of relief. While it was all a passable half truth, it was the best cover he and Kurama could come up with to explain both his whiskers and his transformation when he used Kurama's chakra. Of course that explanation would be blown to bits if anyone ever saw him actually use the Bijuu Cloak. There would be no way he could lie his way out of that one.

On the other hand the likelihood of him even using the Cloak was slim to none. He only really needed it if there was someone who outclassed him in every way, and after Kurama's training the only people who could do so were Kage level shinobi, something he doubted Remnant had.

Of course the other scenario where the Cloak would be called upon was if he was beyond furious. Again thanks to Kurama's help in better controlling his emotions, someone or something would have to make him want to rip them to shreds with his bare hands for that to be the case.

"So why do you hide your features?" Blake asked out of curiosity.

Naruto smirked as he allowed Kurama's chakra to recede back into the seal, taking with it the eyes and fangs, "Why do you?"

Blake had no answer. It was a good response.

"But the real reason is the fear. Most Faunus' features don't look all that threatening. Your cat ears and eye color aren't all that scary. Glowing red eyes and fangs? That's something out of a nightmare and the last thing I want is for people to run screaming, because I smiled."

The amber eyed teen nodded in agreement. First seeing those burning red eyes staring at her had sent a shiver of fear down her spine, like her instincts were telling her to run as far away as possible.

"So then I take it you don't want me to tell anyone else?"

Naruto shrugged as he stretched, "I don't really care if people know I'm a Faunus. If they look at me differently because of it then oh well, not much I can do. Though I will probably tell my team just because I trust them and don't think they'd care."

Blake seemed to ponder Naruto's statement before sighing. It wasn't like she didn't trust her team to not look at her any differently, it was really just her own issue with actually letting people in after everything she had been through in the past few months. She had left one life behind and was trying so hard to build a new one, one away from the lifestyle that had caused her to leave a certain group.

The young Faunus was shocked when she saw Naruto sitting next to her, never having seen him move.

"You're secret's safe with me. I know what its like to fear how the people close to you will react to something so...out of the ordinary. I will say this though, the longer you wait, the harder it'll be to explain why you hid it in the first place."

Brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Blake joined Naruto in gazing at the nighttime sky, finding herself far more calm and comfortable than she ever had before.

Odd how the most hyperactive and goofy person she knew, outside of Yang and her sister Ruby, was able to make her feel so tranquil and at peace. Another thing to add to the list of oddities that surrounded Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

><p>The following day saw Naruto joined by the other members of team NNPR and team RWBY as they made their way to he main arena of Beacon Academy.<p>

The night before had been surprisingly uneventful despite the "revelations" it held.

Naruto had gone ahead and told his team about his being a "Faunus" and their reactions were less than surprising. Pyrrha just smiled and told him that something like that didn't matter to her and that she would always be his friend.

Ren was not at all fazed and simply stated that it only made sense. Nora was the only really noteworthy reaction, having been curious about the marks on his cheeks from when she had first seen him. Now knowing that he was a Faunus and that the marks were actually whiskers and not just scars or odd birthmarks, Nora was tempted to pet them. And pet them she did. This of course led to all of team NNPR finding out that, like any canine or feline, Naruto's whiskers were sensitive to touch.

Being turned into a purring mess like a common house pet was something Naruto's pride would never be able to live down and Nora was more than happy to exploit this newfound "weakness". On the bright side Pyrrha had offhandedly commented that it was cute and even Ren had cracked a smile and laughed at seeing his team leader turned into putty by some light petting of the face.

Of course Team RWBY, minus a certain black cat, were curious as to what had led to all of the drama and Naruto had decided to tell about his half true secret. Blake, having already found out the night prior, was unfazed. Weiss brushed it off in her usual arrogance and said that Naruto was still just a dumb blond, a comment that earned her an angry glare from both Yang and Naruto.

Even still Naruto could see that Weiss was just being Weiss and knew that she was saying she didn't care about his not being entirely human, in her own unique way.

Ruby had given him a hug and told him that it didn't matter to her if he was a Faunus or not, he was her first friend at Beacon and that's all that mattered to her.

Yang had given him a noogie and commented that it just gave her nickname for him an even better basis.

While not exactly being the complete truth, Naruto was happy to see how his new friends felt about him. It felt good to know that even now, so far from home and his precious people, he had new precious people who saw him for who he was.

It also made him feel a bit guilty for lying to them and keeping so much hidden from them.

Kurama was swift to remind him of the consequences that would follow if Naruto allowed that guilt to force him to spill his entire backstory. It was not a matter of trust, but a matter of protecting them from not only those who would no doubt come for Naruto for whatever reason they may choose as well as protecting them from Naruto himself.

Knowing that he couldn't just toss Justu around like they were going out of style kept Naruto at a level that seemed more fitting for someone of his age, at least in Remnant. Sure there were still plenty of people who could no doubt defeat him, both Ozpin and Glynda being on that list, but to do so would no doubt force them to a level they hadn't fought at since their youth.

Bottom line was that by not spilling his guts, Naruto was making sure his friends were kept safe...well as safe as they could be with the whole career choice of being a Hunter/Huntress.

Needless to say the previous day had been quite eventful, for Naruto at least. Today was panning out to be another eventful day as well.

Ozpin had caught wind of the would have been fight in the cafeteria and had decided a fitting punishment for both Naruto and Cardin.

Seeing as how Beacon was training future soldiers, what better way to settle a dispute than with combat? Obviously it wouldn't be a no holds bar fight. The match would be something more of a regulated spar with one of the professors acting as referee and the shields all of Beacon's arenas were outfitted with turned on to ensure that there was no serious injuries.

This would allow Cardin and Naruto to settle their beef with each other in a relatively safe and monitored environment. The "prize" for the winner of this impromptu exhibition? Getting away scot-free.

Well for Naruto at least. Cardin would be penalized for bullying another student regardless of if he won or not. By winning though he would have his sentence lightened to some degree. While Naruto didn't technically do anything wrong, being stopped by Glynda before he could actually hit Cardin, he still had attempted to harm another student and then disrespected a professor. Thus his punishment was having to fight in the match and, if he lost, serving the equivalent of Cardin's own sentence.

Of course both teams NNPR and RWBY hardly saw this as a punishment, having full confidence that their blond friend would have no troubles in triumphing over Cardin. In their eyes this was just going to be an entertaining show of seeing Cardin get what he deserved.

As the two teams entered into the main entrance way to the arena, the group of teens stopped as the fighter's entrance was separate from the one for the audience.

Slinging an arm around her fellow blond's shoulder, Yang grinned as she gave Naruto a little pep talk, "Kick that jerk-face's ass Foxy!"

Well a Yang version of a pep talk at least.

Having said her peace, Yang moved aside only to be replaced by her younger sister.

"Kick his butt Naruto! We'll be cheering you on the whole time!"

These kids truly were wordsmiths of the highest calibre.

Weiss decided to throw in her own two cents to the conversation, "Don't be too much of an idiot."

Ah yes, a speech that would motivate even the laziest of bums. Weiss truly used her high class upbringing to craft such words of vigor and inspiration.

Blake only offered a nod, though if one looked closely they could see the hidden glee in her amber eyes. She usually didn't condone violence as a solution to a problem, but even she had to agree that Cardin needed a good ass kicking and who better to give it to him than blond most thought of as only a childish joker.

She wondered if it was too late to run back to her room to grab a camera. The look on Cardin's face would be priceless.

As team RWBY left to take their front row seats, Naruto's own team decided it would be a good time to give their own speeches.

"Break his legs!"

One could always count on Nora to be the one to give such eloquent and noteworthy speeches. A voice and mind that only came every generation.

Ren offered a nod before turning to take his seat with Nora.

Left alone, Naruto and Pyrrha were silent for a few moments, Naruto still trying to understand how he ended up with the strange ones as friends and Pyrrha trying to think of what to say to her captain and close friend to really motivate him.

Of course most people would agree that with Pyrrha being as attractive as she was and Naruto being a teen male, such a task wasn't really that hard and may not even require words if done right. Then again for comedy's sake we must drag as many awkward and hilarious moment out of Naruto and Pyrrha's relationship as was possible before moving to such a stage.

Nonetheless it wasn't long before the attractive red head of team NNPR decided on a course of action.

Naruto was caught off guard when Pyrrha hugged him, saying a quick, "Good luck," before letting go and smiling at him.

Naruto offered his own smile before replying with a, "Thanks."

It was Pyrrha's turn to be surprised when Kurama leapt from Naruto's shoulders to hers.

"I won't need his help and the lazy bum would rather just sit and watch the fight," Naruto explained.

_'Please, that shy Hyuuga girl could have beaten that fool with little problems. Me staying with you would only disturb my nap time. Wake me when you're done toying with that pitiful ningen _(human)_.'_

Pyrrha laughed before reaching her hand to Kurama's head, running her fingers gently through the soft fur around his ears and brow.

With one last wave the red head left to join the rest of their friends in the stands.

As Naruto made his way to finally enter the arena and start his fight, he was once more stopped from doing so, this time by a group of four that he had never seen before.

The one in front, a girl a year or so older than Naruto dressed in a combination of blacks and browns, her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and a hat covering the top portion of her brown hair, was the one to first speak.

"Hey! You're Naruto Uzumaki right?"

Despite being a little put off by the appearance of these random, to Naruto, people, the blond haired Uzumaki nodded.

The apparent leader of the team continued her speech, "We're Team CFVY (Coffee) and this is Velvet," here the young woman gestured to the only other female member of the team, a shy looking thing with rabbit ears that marked her as a Faunus. Naruto recognized her as the girl Cardin had been bullying in the first place

Continuing on the still unnamed leader kept talking, "We just wanted to say thanks. Velvet usually doesn't like to stand up for herself and so we usually are there to make sure people like that ass-hat Winchester don't mess with her. Unfortunately we weren't there, but we heard that you at least tried to step in to help her and for that we'd like to thank you Whiskers."

Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, "It was no big deal. I hate people like Cardin and I thought he needed some help with taking that stick out of his ass."

The older teen laughed while the other members of her team cracked a smile, Velvet trying and failing to hide her giggles behind her hand.

"You know what? I like you Whiskers. You actually got a pair on you, unlike most of these pansies. Give that bastard Cardin a good one for us yeah?"

Without a word more, team CFVY made their exit, leaving Naruto to ponder on the strange events and people that seemed to gravitate towards him.

_'I swear that girl reminded me way too much of Anko-sensei. God I hope she doesn't have a thing for my blood!'_

Naruto couldn't help but to shudder at the memory of a certain purple haired Jounin who took great pleasure in teasing him whenever she got the chance.

Pushing those unpleasant, or pleasant depending on who you asked, memories aside, Naruto turned to face the entrance way that stood between him and Cardin.

With a vulpine grin stretching across his whiskered face, Naruto began to walk, confidently striding towards his target.

Cardin Winchester had no idea that he was dealing with Naruto Uzumaki, crowned Prankster King of Konoha.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Ok so I KINDA lied. There wasn't that much action in this chapter. Sorry. But hey! At least you guys weren't stuck waiting for several months for this chapter!

Anyways someone, I forgot who, asked why Naruto seemed to be the only one revealing things about himself. At this point he is the most...developed character in that he's made his peace with the events of his past and such. As such, he is the most comfortable with talking about his past, a Konoha and place that he can't feasibly get back to. That shows a little in this chapter with his moment with Blake.

His not outright saying he's a Jinchuuriki has less to do with him fearing their reactions and more to do with not wanting to drop such a huge bomb on them so soon.

The other characters will obviously make their own peace with their troubles, some getting help from Naruto and others not, and will follow suit.

As for the change with the whole bullying thing, honest to god that scene was the most aggravating thing ever to me. I hated how they (RWBY and JNPR) sat their and acted like they were better than Cardin because they "felt bad". I honestly hated the characters for that and so decided to rectify it here.

What was that saying? "Evil only happens when good people do nothing" or something like that? Well there ya go.

Anyways, as some may have noticed, some humor and such has begun to find its way into my writing style. Probably due to the amount of comedy fics I've been reading lately. Like it? Hate it? Don't give a shit? Let me know.

Hopefully I did Coco right in this chapter. For the short screen time she got in the finale, Coco has become one of those characters everybody just loves. Seeing as how badass she is (seriously, kicking a Beowulf in the Grimm Nuts? Badass certified) and with her snarky humor, I can't disagree. However that's the only scene we have to go off of and the only parallel I found was Anko so hopefully that worked out.

Again let me know what you think.

Before I rant, something many people have pointed out to me, I'll just say thanks again for all the support. Next chapter WILL have action! This I swear!

Also I find it funny how myself and SilverFoxSage tend to update around the same time.

Review, tell your people friends, and all that good shit.

Until the next chapter!

Peace out!


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